I'm Fine
by Quasaii
Summary: Rated for Rape, swearing and Violence. Rogue thought the worst thing she had to deal with was not being able to touch others. She was very wrong.Now complete
1. Pain

Disclaimer: Okay to please the minute population that actually reads this statement, I do not own Marvel, or Stan Lee or X-men etc. Not mine, ya hear?

Warnings: This is a dark story. There is rape and lots of misery. It starts now. The sunshine and fairy dust is on hiatus, I'm sorry.

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_She could feel the knife slicing through her arm. Blood poured out while her bone was being pulled-_

Rogue woke with a start. "I hate that dream," she thought. It really wasn't fair. It wasn't even her dream. It was another one of Logan's. Lucky her. Rogue always seemed to have nightmares lately. Whether she watched her parents die in a plane crash, or her father was locking her away in an institution, she could find no peace in sleep. At least Rogue could say that her reality was better something. It wasn't that she had a completely horrible life; it was just troubled at times. With a mom that used her, a power more like a curse, and the lack of intimacy with anyone, she tended to be resentful at times.

Lying awake in bed she pondered this. It had been a pretty miserable day. On three different occasions she walked into a room to see Jean and Scott jump apart guiltily. The fact that they were together didn't bother her as much as them jumping apart. She didn't appreciate being treated like a china doll that couldn't handle seeing what she couldn't have. For God's sakes, it wasn't as though she didn't know they held hands and kissed. How dim did they assume her? "Hey, if we jump apart now, maybe she'll have no idea." I know they were trying to "keep her best interests at heart" but she did not need their pity. She got her power almost three years ago, it wasn't like she wasn't used to it. Physical affection did not suddenly cease the day Cody dropped like a stone. She understood that she would die a virgin, that she would never get a real kiss. She understood that she would never have a family of her own and never get to get too close to whatever family her house mates had. It wasn't a concept easily forgotten.

Yet Jean and Scott continued their actions and they weren't alone. Kitty and Kurt were careful not to mention stuff they did with Lance and Amanda respectfully in much detail. Annoying, but not as bad as the younger recruits whom where in the habit of simply ceasing a conversation if she entered the same room. How subtle. It was her own fault really; she could have stopped their behaviors at anytime by talking to them. In fact she could have stopped it straight from the beginning, when she over heard them planning out this objective on her wait to the kitchen for a late night snack.

"I'm vorried about Rogue," said the concerned voice of Kurt. His voice froze her outside of the kitchen door.

"Yeah, me too. She is so withdrawn now. Well, more than she used to be. Do you guys think the final battle with Apocalypse really upset her?"

"No Kitty, I think her powers are getting to her," said the all-knowing Jean.

"Like taking her over again? If they are we have to tell the prof-"

"No," interrupted Scott, "as in, the fact that she can't touch is catching up with her. I found out she has health this year and they are on the CPR unit. Not to mention the daily lives of everyone around her, Jean and I included. Relationships? Dating? It must be torture for her."

"Which is why Scott and I decided to take it easy around here. Since we are in college we can just be close there. We are trying not to rub our.um…abilities in her face. In fact, we advice you to do the same."

"You mean, not get too…touchy feely around the mansion?" Kurt asked.

"That and maybe you would do well not to mention to much of it either. Do what you can to avoid the subject."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Don't worry guys, Kurt and I will pass the message along to the other students"

"Good idea, just tell them to be subtle. We don't want Rogue to think we are doing this for her. She would get rather upset at that I expect."

"Yeah, my sister doesn't really like help. We keep it on the DL, no worries."

"Good. Wow guys, it is getting late, we should get to bed. We have a training room session at six and we don't want to be late."

"Like, speak for yourself, Scott."

"Yeah…"

The voices faded away as Rogue quickly and quietly made her way back to her room. She should have said something. She should have explained to them that she wasn't fragile, that she could handle herself. However in all honesty, she was just too tired. She would have probably lost her temper and that would have made things worse. It just didn't seem worth it. So instead she slipped back into her bed and let the horrors of restless sleep claim her.

The next day was a Friday. So, Rogue had a math test that she didn't study for, a speech to give (in French), and a training session with the entire team. "Yippee," she thought. She bombed the math test second period. "Who needs trig anyways?" and by fifth period she had a detention after school. It would be easy to say she didn't deserve it and was targeted just because she was a mutant, but it really wasn't true. However she definitely didn't regret her actions. After lunch she had come back to her locker to find it blocked, by a couple of people. A couple of people that were necking. On her locker. She played nice at first, "Excuse meh, could ya please move?"

The girl gave her a look of disgust while the boys said, "go to hell you skunk-head mutie."

Rogue took a deep breath before saying in a sickeningly calm voice, "Move, you brain-dead losers before I make you move."

"Make us," they replied before going back to the task at hand.

"As you wish she said," and pulled out her soda for lunch (only a little bit consumed) and poured all over the couple, mainly on the girl (who was in a designer white shirt).

Her scream was worth the detention and reprimand. In fact, it would have been worth ten. That didn't mean however, that Rogue was particularly please about having to spend an extra hour at school. It wasn't exactly her favorite place.

Needless to say that when she started walking home at four, she wasn't in a great mood. It only worsened when a large, hairy mutant stepped out from some nearby trees.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? One little piggy, walking all alone. What shall I do with it?"

"Go to hell Sabertooth," Rogue spat out as she dropped her bad and got into a fighting stance. She had a funny feeling the giant cat wouldn't' let her call for help.

"No, I don't think so, I've got plans for you my little pet," he replied with a sadistic smile. Then he attacked. Rogue dodged to the side quickly and Sabertooth went straight into the ground. However that that last for about a half a second before he was up again. Again he attacked, and again she dodged. It was how Logan taught her to fight. Not to avoid the enemy, but to know the strengths and weaknesses of both parties. Sabertooth was much stronger and bigger. There would be no use in a direct attack. It would probably tickle. Instead Rogue had to rely on speed, agility, and flexibility. However that led to no end. It was merely a way to keep herself alive. To win this, Rogue had to touch Sabertooth long enough to knock him out. That was no easy feat, being that Sabertooth knew this and avoided her ungloved hands.

"This is pointless x-girl. You know that. You can't avoid me forever. I bet you are already getting tired. You might as well face it, you are done with."

Sabertooth was wrong. Rogue was not getting tired. She had been tired to begin with, she was now getting exhausted. He was horribly accurate in his predictions. There was no way for her to win this. However she wasn't about to give up without a fight. "What do you want Ass-hole?" she asked, "Did someone steal your cat food or something? Perhaps you aren't man enough to take on someone your own size. How pathetic. You have to take on a little girl to win a fight."

He laughed at this, "Aw, is Logan's little brat trying to talk me out a fight. Sorry sweetie, that isn't what I'm after. If it makes you feel any better I'm not looking to kill you. I actually just want to test a new product." He jumped for her and she leaned out the way again, but this time accidentally let her arm fly out. Sabertooth stole the opportunity and pulled her to the ground with it. Rogue couldn't hold back from crying out when the large weight of Sabertooth crushed her.

"Aw, did I hurt the wittle Rogue?" He shifted himself so that his weight held down her body while he held her wrists above her head through her sleeves.

"What product? What do you want? There isn't anything you can do to me if you don't want to kill me. You can't touch me remember?"

"Impatient are we? Fine with me." He took his free hand and reached behind him to pull out a piece of metal. On first glance Rogue saw that it was shaped like an "M". As he brought it closer to her face she saw that the middle of it was a hinge of sorts. It was actually two semi-circles that seemed to be able to form into a full circle like some sort of collar. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Rogue found out that her initial thoughts on the device were right. Sabertooth let go of her arms to yank her head up by her hair and snap the metal around her neck. Rogue didn't care what the metal did now, her hands were free and she was going to get away. In a quick motion, she grabbed Sabertooth's face. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened. Well, that was a lie. Something did happen. Sabertooth started laughing.

"What is the matter little x-girl? Powers not working?" Suddenly, Rogue understood. Somehow the collar negated her powers. She was utterly and completely defenseless. Sabertooth could do whatever he wanted to her. The question was what did he want?

"What do you want Sabertooth? What is the point of this?"

"You haven't figured it out girly? I thought you x-men were smart. In all honesty I would rather have the redhead, or perhaps the weather witch based on looks alone. But Wolverine needs to pay."

"Have me? What the hell are you talking about? If want Wolverine so badly, go attack him. What do I have to do with this?"

"Still don't get it girly? A beating doesn't seem to teach doggy-boy much of anything. So I figured, I just take one of his precious little kids. In fact, I'll just take his favorite."

"So you are going to kill me?"

He growled, "You stupid girl. If I killed you, who would go back to Wolverine to tell the tale."

"Fine then. Mutilate me. I don't care. If I don't die, then I will eventually heal. Do your friggin' worst."

"Worst? No girly, I'm going to do you a favor. Come on now, don't you like my collar? Without me, you would die a virgin."

It was the trigger word. Rogue suddenly understood, and she was going to be sick. "NO!" she wailed, "Let me go! Let me-"

She was cut off by Sabertooth roughly placing his hand over her mouth. "Go on bitch, keep fighting. I like that, just keep quiet."

She bit him and he slapped her. Hard. However She continued to scream until he ripped of part of his own shirt and gagged her. She continued to fight for a little while longer, thrashing about as he ripped open her clothes, trying to evade his hand as he reached down to glide it along her body. However by penetration she realized it was no use and just collapsed completely spent. However, no matter what happened, she would not cry. No matter what she would not cry.

"Aw, was I wittle Roguey's first?" he taunted as pulled his own clothes back on. He smiled and kissed her as he reached for her neck. He pushed his tongue in her mouth as he unlocked the collar.

"Have a good day girly," he called out as he walked off, leaving her naked, alone, and broken. She waited a couple more minutes before she was sure he was gone then the tears began to fall. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry, but there was no keeping it. Huddled in a ball, in the cold New York air, she just let everything pour out. One thing was for sure; she would never take her power for granted. It was the best thing she had. It was the only thing she had.

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Not the end by a long-shot. 

Kindly Review, I would appreciate it.

Flame if you must.


	2. Going Home

Disclaimer: I do own marvel. Go ahead, try and sue me. Do you know what you will get? X-men comics! Ha Ha Ha Ha

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Chapter Two- Going Home

Rogue awoke the next morning very sore. She was sore in places that had never been touched during a training session. At least it was Saturday. She could just lay in bed and read, or whatever. No one would really bother her today. They thought she had a cold from falling in a creek in the woods. That is how she explained coming home sopping wet. Why was she late? She went for a walk in the woods after he detention. She forgot about the training session. So Monday she had a one on one with Logan at five thirty if she wasn't still sick. Logan made sure to add that she better not be.

As Rogue headed to the bathroom, she had to fight the urge to take another shower. She had taken an extremely long one last night under scalding water. Even when her skin glowed read from the temperature and her furious scrubbing, she still felt dirty. At any given time she could also feel the rough hands forcing her legs apart…Rogue shook her head furiously. No, she had to get that out of her head. By now she had made it to the bathroom and was staring at herself in the mirror. Pale skin with dark circles that were not make-up stared back at her. She suddenly sneezed. How funny, she actually did have a cold. Considering yesterday, it wasn't that unexpected.

After many minutes of crying, Rogue found herself unable to cry any longer. She could barely feel her fingers and toes and her face had become raw. She stood up and gathered her clothes. They had been torn pretty badly, but she had decorative safety pins from her outfit that helped hold parts together. Over that, she put on her trench since it was still in one piece. She had taken it off for the fight. Then she started walking home. What else could she do? Before she reached the institute she had to walk through a busy part of town. People stared at her as she walked and she knew they knew what happened. They knew she had been touched…used…invaded. How could they not? It was so obvious. Lost in thought she didn't see the older women that she nearly knocked flat.

"I'm sorry," Rogue apologized quickly

"It's fine honey," the women kindly replied. "Are you alright sweetheart? You look sick. Do you need a ride home?"

Rogue didn't understand why she was asking those questions. Of course she wasn't all right. She had just gotten…she didn't want to think the word. "I look sick?" she thought in confusion, "of course I do." Is she just making fun of me? Why is she doing that? Unless- no, that couldn't be it. Could it? Maybe, the women didn't know what happened to her. But how could that be? No, she wasn't there, but still, it was so obvious. The grime was all over her. It stank and burned. But only to her. It was invisible. Now Rogue understood; this woman didn't know. None of them knew. They were staring because she looked sick or disgruntled. They didn't know. And they didn't have to ever know, Rogue realized.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for the offer," Rogue replied with a fake smile

"Okay honey, you be careful now," the woman said, seemingly reluctant to leave the young adult on her own.

Rogue nodded and continued walking. When she walked past a pharmacy she stopped. In theory her powers would stop her from having a child, but it had never been tested. She had to do something to make sure. A baby? She would die, absolutely die. It just wasn't an option. Inside the store, Rogue went straight to the woman in the back and asked for the day after pill. The smiling Pharmacist started to say that she needed a doctor's prescription but stopped at the look on Rogue's face.

"What happened sweetie?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"It was my boyfriend and ah. We...umm.were doing stuff and the condom broke," she stated turning a little red. All and all, it was wishful thinking. "My parents would kill us if they found out. I'm on the honor roll and stuff. I can't go to the doctor. I'm only 17 and my mother would find out." Would the pharmacist buy it? It sounded so fake to Rogue. It was just so wrong, so far from true. She would never believe it.

"I understand sweetie. Tell you what, I'm going to give you the pills, but don't tell anyone about this okay? I could get into big trouble. Truth is we always have extras just in case. They don't always get on inventory," the woman said quietly handing her the foil package, "Take them both at once, as soon as possible."

Rogue nodded in understanding. As she left the story she opened the package and swallowed them, water-less. They tasted horrible, but it was necessary. She was somewhat amazed as she exited. The woman believed her. She didn't know. No one knew. No one could see her humiliation and shame or weak she was. No one would confirm what she already knew- that it was all her fault.

Rogue was back outside now and on her way home again. What would she tell the institute? She couldn't lie to them. Logan would smell Sabertooth all over her. He would get so angry. That is what Sabertooth was counting on of course. Then there would be the looks. Could she stand everyone's pity? Wait, she already had it. But there would be so much more now. Pity and therapy. Counseling and sympathetic looks. No, she couldn't stand it. What would she do? If only there was some way they didn't know… some way they didn't have to find out.

Could she just not tell them? Could it be that easy? No, not with two telepaths and Wolverine. It was just not feasible. However, Rogue had mental shields now. She never wanted to be messed with again after apocalypse. She could just put up her shields and lie. But she still smelled like Sabertooth. Logan would smell her on the friggin' driveway. There was no way she would make it up to the shower without his knowledge.

Rogue had reached the edge of the mansion property at this point. She looked up the long driveway as if she expected her solution to come barreling down it. No such luck. There was a chance she could go in the back and not been seen, assuming she wasn't taken down by the security system of course. All she had to do was follow the street until she passed a deep creek and follow it up the property. It led straight to the backyard. Then it her. The creek. How simple and obvious. Dogs couldn't follow prey that went through rivers. Water stopped smell.

Rogue raced down the road to the creek. It was shallow here, but got pretty deep farther into the property. She reached a spot where it was halfway to her knees. She removed her boots and tentatively put a foot in. Freezing was an understatement in describing the temperature of the water. It was like a thousand pins being shoved into her foot. If she wanted no detection, she would have to submerge her entire body fully and completely. Even the smallest trace would be detected. It had to be done. Rogue went to take of her other boot and coat but paused suddenly. What would she say, that as she fell in her coat and shoes magically came off? Not to mention they would smell too. No, they had to stay on.

She slowly dipped a foot in and grimaced when it reached a point where water started to leak in. She continued to dip her leg in, pulling it out each second in cold shock. Three minutes later, one knee wasn't even in. This method would take an hour to complete. Rogue had to bite the bullet and just go in.

She took a deep breath and step in, nearly crying out. It hurt so much. For no purpose but fear, Rogue closed her eyes as she laid her entire body in the water. Before her own body forced her out of the creek, she put her head under. She stayed under like that for about a minute, moving about to make sure there was no smell left.

Getting out of the water was worse then being in, Rogue found out. The needles that had been piercing her skin were now knives digging into her. Oh, to just stop moving right now. To just lie down and never get up again would be bliss. Rogue couldn't do that of course. Instead she dragged herself to the back door and entered the building.

The questions where a blur now. There were many from various sources. There were concerned ones, confused ones, and suspicious ones. To all she explained how she had gone for a walk after he detention because she felt like it. She had fallen into the creek on the way in. Sometimes people just get really lost in thought. Yeah, she had forgotten about the session. Yes not telling anyone was irresponsible. Yes she was sorry. Yeah, she didn't feel so well and would like to lie down after a hot shower. Even with a towel around her, she was freezing. She didn't want to take her jacket off; her clothes had gotten ripped in the fall. Rogue was proud of that response; it was completely on the spot.

She turned the shower scalding hot. Maybe Rogue hoped that she could burn away the skin that betrayed her so. It didn't really, but it sure felt like it could. IT wasn't enough though so she picked up the washcloth and started scrubbing as well. She scrubbed until it felt like there was no skin left. Then she collapsed in tub. Sitting under the head pouring still hot water over her head, she thought about her situation.

The horrible irony of the situation was that Sabertooth hadn't taken her for a simple rape. As he told her, if he wanted sex, he would have chosen a prettier girl. Her only use was that she was close to Wolverine. She was only a tool in revenge. Look at that, used again. She was worthless as a human being. Her existence was only to help others in their ambitions. Her mother had used her; Gambit had used her, and now so had Sabertooth. All he wanted was to make Wolverine angry, to hurt him by hurting her. There lay the silver lining. Wolverine would never know. Rogue actually gave a bitter laugh. She would never tell Logan. Sabertooth failed. He wouldn't hurt Logan, because he would never know. It was brilliant. It was perfect. Rogue won. It was that simple. She won, she won, she won. She had the power in the situation and she won. What an empty victory it was.

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A/N

There is the second installment.

The third might be a little bit because I am graduationg high school today, but I will try.

As everyone else says, please review.

Lockness monster


	3. Surpise Decision

Disclaimer: I don't own the bloody thing, good enough for you?

Reviewers:

Wovieluvr- Thank you, Graduation was ungodly boring

Nini- blushes, Thank you!

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**Chapter three- Sudden Decision**

Saturday and Sunday passed exactly the same. Half-feigning illness, Rogue stayed in her room listening to music and reading. She exited for one or two meals, but barely ate anything. Besides some intruding visits from Kitty and Kurt, it went off without a hitch. The question was, how long could it last?

Monday was not nearly as relaxing. For the first time in probably her whole life, Rogue thanked her alarm clock for waking her up at 5:30 morning. It interrupted the feeling of rough furry hands roaming across her chest as cold eyes leered at her. "At least, I'm experiencing my own nightmares again," she thought bitterly. She quickly and quietly dressed in her work out outfit and headed to the danger room. Logan awaited her.

"'Bout time, stripes"

"It is five 'til six Logan. Back off."

He narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Instead he just led her inside. She waited for him to call out a simulation but he remained silent. When she looked at him questioningly he explained, "Just one on one today, darlin'"

After a ten-minute stretch, they took their positions. Logan made the first move, lunging forward with welding a fist. She easily dodged the offense. Wolverine often started weakly to warm her up. However that usually only lasted through one blow. That was the case today as Rogue had to put in a fair amount of effort to avoid a strong kick aimed at her chest. Even through exhaustion from poor eating and sleeping, Rogue was not doing too badly in the duel. It took almost ten minutes for Logan to take her down. He squatted down, unexpectedly swinging an arm into he back of her knees, forcing her to collapse. Using that he leaned over her, pinning her to the ground, holding her hands above her waist. Rogue went to give him verbal victory, when his face suddenly changed before her eyes. Suddenly brown/red eyes stared down at her viciously. A horrible smile teased her, promising pain and betrayal. She had no escape, her whole body was pinned. He was going to do it again to her, hurt her again. Rogue did the only thing that she could think of at that moment, she screamed.

Immediately, She was released. Barely breathing she looked at her attacker her, ready to do anything for revenge. Logan's shocked and worried eyes were staring at her, unblinkingly. Of course they were. Because he was the only one in here with her. Sabertooth was not in the mansion. He was not in the danger room. She was loosing it.

"What the hell stripes? That's it, match over, you tell me what is going on, and you tell me now."

Finally regaining enough control over her body to answer, she replied, "Nothing Logan, I'm sorry. I just panicked that is all."

"Nothing my ass. You never found reason to freak out before. I want answers. You can hide from everyone else here, but not from me. Honestly kid, I thought we were closer than that. I think I deserve a little more respect than the bullshit you feed the rest of the mansion."

Rogue was being split down the middle. She and Logan were closer than that. She would also tell him things before and more often instead of any one else. He was the only one who understood her. To lie to him was torture, but she couldn't' tell him. Even if she were willing to lose to Sabertooth, how would she even begin? Truth be told, he understood a lot of things, but he would never get this. Not in a million years would he understand. Therefore she stood at a fork in the road. Which could she stand more, lying to Logan or loosing to Sabertooth. As she decided she remembered the main lesson she had learned in her life- you can depend on only yourself. Her pride was one of the only things she could always have. She wasn't about to lose it now. She had to lie to Logan; it was for the best for both of them. Why burden him anyways? It wasn't his fault, at least directly. No, it was time to play pretend.

"Fine Logan, I'll be honest. I just have had some bad dreams lately. When you took me down, it just reminded me of one and I freaked out. Don't worry about it, I have got it under control," Rogue stated as if telling a deep dark secret. It wasn't a lie. Rogue had to be careful about that. Wolverine was no telepath, but it didn't mean he wasn't just as good, if not better, at detecting untruths. He looked at her for a moment as if deciding if this was a good enough answer.

After what seemed like forever, he said, "Alright Stripes, I'll go with that. I want you to tell the professor."

"Logan, I said I was-"

"I know what you said kid, and I don't care! I want you to talk to the professor. You freaking out during a fight is dangerous. You could be a liability in a mission," Wolverine said seriously. To the spectator it might seem cold that all Logan cared about was a mission, but that was only a cover up. What he really meant was that he was worried about her. However neither of their attitudes would allow such a confession, so it stayed strictly business. Don't endanger a mission.

"Fine, I will later."

Wolverine opened his mouth to argue but Rogue continued, "After school, I promise. I just don't have time now."

"Fine, now hurry up or you will be late."

Rogue rolled her eyes and left the danger room. As she left, she reminded herself that she was doing the right thing for both of them

School was the normal horror. However as usual Rogue worried more about her own thoughts than algebra. From a different perspective, Rogue would have found the situation humorous due to irony. From what she knew from a random health class or two, Rape victims had common behaviors. Often they became unsocial, quiet and guilt-ridden. They could become depressed, losing interest in activities and life. They also might shy away from physical affection, fearing it. This was Rogue on a normal day. What a glorious alibi she had. With the exception of the sickness and less eating, there was an amazing chance that no one would notice a thing. In fact, Wolverine, Kitty, and her foster brother seemed to be the only ones showing any concern as it was. No one at school said a thing, not that she cared or noticed really. No one talked to her but mansion kids anyways. On the outside, nothing had really been affected. From any other viewpoint, this would have been funny.

Rogue went home as usual and pretended to do her homework. In actuality her bag wasn't touched after it was dropped on her floor upon entering. Even if she felt like doing homework she wouldn't know where to start since she hadn't given any concern to her classes. Hell, she could barely recall attending them. A fog seemed to have settled around her.

The training session was a brilliant dictator. Teamed up with Kitty, they were the last pair to finish in simulated obstacle course. It wasn't entire Rogue's doing. Kitty could be a class A klutz when she tried. In Rogues option she sure gave the college try this evening.

Dinner was shortly after the exercise. Everyone sat with their little groups discussing homework, crushes, friends etc. Rogue sat in the corner half listening to everyone. Within her fog, she felt light years from the group. Carefree was a cliff she had fallen off into darkness and there was no climbing back up.

Logan suddenly interrupted the group with a rough, "Hey midgets." Ignoring the random scatterings of "I'm taller than you," he continued, "Team training after dinner Wednesday. Today was awful. I want you all there Wednesday and you better be amazing." Again ignoring the students in outraged cries, he turned to Kitty and Rogue, stating "especially you two. In fact, Wednesday morning I want you two together in a small session."

"What? Mr. Logan, that is so not fair. I have got homework and stuff. You can't make me-" Kitty whined but was interrupted.

"Impress me on Wednesday and we won't have to deal with this again." He said calmly but forcefully.

Kitty huffed in response.

"That okay with you Stripes?" he asked, looking at her now.

"No, it isn't." she replied. Where had that come from? Well, she knew actually. She couldn't do it. She was sick of training sessions. She was just too tired for them. It was a challenge to stand up without being overcome with dizziness. However she wasn't supposed to say that. Sadly, her mouth worked before he head.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't come to the Wednesday sessions," She explained. She should not have said that. Rogue should have said never mind, but she didn't. How the hell would she explain this?

"Why?"

Damn good question, it was. Why indeed? Still sick? Wouldn't work Had a club meeting? Yeah right. Finally she just said to everyone's surprise including her own, "I won't be here. I'm leaving tomorrow."

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Third installment in complete. In the next chapter Rogue is going to be on the move. Many surprises await her, where she decides to go.

Please do the button thing, it makes me feel special.

Pop-Tart


	4. A Plan

Disclaimer: Don't own

**Reviewers:**

_Forgotten Angel_- Thank you, that makes me feel really good.

_Ashnan-_ I think I fixed that now, thank you for letting me know.

_MidniteAngelGoth_- Thank you, and I love your name

_Jikei yo_- Yep, like a marshmallow, but maybe a little less sticky. Yeah Logan is one of my favorite charaters too (I have a wolverine shirt, lol). I adore his relationship with Rogue.

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"Rogue, are you absolutely sure you really want to leave. If there is a problem, we can work through it," the professor started for the fifty-third time.

"No thank you, Professor, I need to do this," she replied in a tired tone. She really was sick of having to assure him.

"Okay, are you sure you don't need anything? I can arrange accommodations or-"

"Drop it Chuck, she has got a handle on it," Logan interrupted, "Just let her be." God bless the Wolverine.

"Don't worry Professor, I have got some money saved up and I know where I am going," she stated.

"Okay Rogue, I trust you," the professor conceded finally, though still sounding concerned.

It was Monday morning around ten. The students were already at school that fit perfect into Rogue's plans of as little good-byes as possible. IT was true that Kurt and Kitty were found in her room around 6:30 begging her to reconsider or just to stay for a little while longer. However they couldn't keep that up for too long without being late for school and Rogue was eventually left to pack in peace. Now all she had to deal with were the adults. Storm, whom she never got extremely close to just, gave her best regards. The Professor was reluctant to let her go, but Wolverine backed her up. Rogue had known that he would. If anyone understood the need to just leave sometimes, it was Logan.

He walked her to the front door where a taxi awaited to take her to the train station.

"You got a plan kid?" he asked gruffly, faking indifference.

"Yep, I'm set." She replied confidently

"Okay, just let me know if you get into to trouble kid, won't cha," he asked, handing her a small piece of paper with a number on it. "It is my cell phone number, call anytime," he told her.

"Okay," she agreed, putting the paper in her pocket. They looked at each other for a moment and Wolverine moved as if he was going to hug her but seemed to think better of it. He patted her on the back and said, "You better get going before you miss your train."

She nodded and into the Taxi she went. It was funny that Wolverine had warned her that she was going to miss her train when he didn't even know which one she was taking. He hadn't asked, and presumably stopped the Professor from asking as well. That was a very good thing considering that she had no idea herself which train she was going on. In fact she had blatantly lied when she said she had a plan. The only thing she didn't lie about was having some money. She definitely had 'some' money, about 413 dollars. This was saved up from the Professors allowance. If there was one thing Rogue learned in her life, it was that having no life saved you a lot of money.

The taxi arrived at the station and Rogue got out, just standing and staring at the building, suitcase beside her. The driver gave her a strange look before leaving. Luckily the Professor had paid him for the trip already, so Rogue still had $413. How wonderful for her, 400 dollars and no idea what to do with it. Instead of going to buy a ticket when she went in, she sat strait down. It was time to create a plan. Actually that time was last night after her little announcement, but that didn't go so well. She had to come up with something; it wasn't like she could stop at Grandma's house for a little while. What kind of job could she get without even finishing high school? Even if she could get that far it wasn't like she had a place to live. Affording train fair and an apartment down payment? She wasn't going to hold her breath for that one.

A giant wall map could be found right in front of her seat. She just stared at it for a while, her eyes following all the little red lines spreading out across the country, showing where the trains could go. Another person suddenly entered the station bringing in cold air that seemed to wrap around Rogue. It probably would snow before Halloween. "No snow where she was from," she thought bitterly. With that memory, the proverbial light bulb lit up. She could go home. She immediately spotted Caldecott County on the map. It was in Southwest Mississippi, right on the Mississippi River. The closest station was Jackson, Mississippi. She had a plan. Immediately she rushed over to the ticket counter and got bought a one ticket to Jackson. She had to take a train to Chicago and then another one to Jackson and it cost a total of $196.00. The train left in 45 minutes.

Rogue sat back down in her seat and pulled out her book to read, now relieved. However she couldn't get past one page because concern was tugging at her mind. There was no way she could not worry about the situation. Irene had been working with her mother. Rogue couldn't just ignore that. Would Irene hate her now because she didn't get along with Mystique? Irene was never a bad person. As Rogue had said before, she was a good mom to her, but was that enough. So much had changed now. And going back to Caldecott County. That would be difficult. Who's to say that they wouldn't chase her out with pitchforks and torches? She put the star quarterback in a coma and ran off. By now they would know she was a mutant. IF large cities couldn't accept mutants, small southern towns held no chance. Maybe they wouldn't remember? It had been a couple of years… Who the hell was she kidding? It was a small southern town! Besides it was rather difficult to forget a gothic girl with white streaks in her hair. People tend to notice the freak wearing gloves when it is 96 degrees with 87 percent humidity. Suddenly another problem presented itself. Who was to say that Irene was still living there? Mystique's memories told her that they lived there only for Rogue and her powers. There was nothing else holding the blind woman there. Rogue could be heading strait into a dead end with half the money she started with. For a panicked moment, she considered trying to return the ticket for another plan. However Rogue had no other plan and nothing brilliant would come to her sitting in the plastic seat of a poorly heated train station. This was all she had and she had to go for it.

"Now boarding train 684, non-stop route to Chicago, Illinois," a voice over the intercom said pleasantly. Lost in thought, Rogue hadn't even noticed the passing of time. She grabbed her suitcase and headed out back to the platform to board. After presenting her ticket she chose a window seat and leaned her head against it. Rogue was asleep before the train started to move.

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A/N

Yep, she is heading back down South.

Just to let you know, i have never been on a train before so I am sorry if my descriptions are a little in accurate. I also apologize for my grammer errors, I'm trying to get my friend to be a beta reader, but that isn't working out so well, lol.

As usual, thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Rogue arrives.


	5. Arrival

Disclaimer: Blah Blah Blah

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She woke up about three hours into the trip. Only about half of the seats in her car were full. Due to this, no one sat beside her. The train ride to Chicago was about 26 hours. Knowing she wouldn't easily fall asleep again, she pulled out a book and started to read. Later on she listened to music. Rogue basically spent the rest of the train ride in that fashion.

Rogue boarded the Mississippi train in Chicago after an hour and 15 minute wait at the station. The traveling time for this route would only be about 15 hours, but the train was crowded. It seemed that many people wished to migrate for the winter. Rogue got on early and got a window seat. A few minutes later a large youngish man sat beside her. He smiled amicably at her and offered greetings. Rogue replied vaguely and went back to looking out the window. As they started moving he attempted to start a conversation.

"So where are you headed," he inquired.

"Mississippi," she replied with little enthusiasm

The man laughed, "I'm sure you would be happy to know that you are on the right train then."

Rogue merely nodded. And he continued his efforts, "Why you going down south? Just getting too cold."

"Yeah," was another bland reply.

"I'm going down for business myself. Rather have flown, but it just isn't in the budget. Small business you know," he continued, "I can't say I mind, it looks like a harsh winter coming in. Already pushing thirty and it is barely October."

Rogue nodded again.

"You know what? Here I am talking to you and I completely forgot to introduce myself. If my mother where here, she would slap me upside the head. I'm Hank Thomas, nice to meet you," he said thrusting out a hand. He pushed it towards her so fast that she instinctively backed up into the window nearly squeaking. Seeing her reaction, he pulled it back saying, "uh…right. I'm going to go to the rest-room now, if you will excuse me." He never came back.

Instead an elderly black woman occupied the seat. "Is this seat tahken, sugah," she asked in a strong southern drawl. Rogue shook her head. "Awl, thank yah. I do need to rest my weary self. Mah, oh mah, it sure is cold up here. My baby just had one of her own, so Ah came up for the birthin' but dear Lord Ah don't know how she can stand it up here. I don't know if mah toes 'ever unfreeze." Rogue couldn't resist laughing at this. "Ah'm so glad to be goin' home. How about you honey, what's your story," she said addressing Rogue suddenly. She shrugged. "Wehl, looks who's bashful. Come on now honey, don't be shy. Ah don' bayte."

The women did see rather harmless and it was a 15-hour ride, not to mention Rogue finished her other book and could only find some stupid mystery novel at the station to replace it. "I'm goin' home too," she said.

"Well, lookie that, another southern gal. Ah do believe Ah have good taste in seat pickin' after all. You going back to your family?"

"Yeah, I'm goin' to see my foster mother again. I haven't seen her for a couple of years," she stated. As long as she kept vague, no harm would be done.

"Well ain't that a shame? You lived with a foster family," she asked sadly, shaking her head, "aw sweetie, that's a shame. You real parents not nice to yah? Oh dear lord, listen to meh, asking such awful questions. You don't have to answer that honey, Ah'm sorreh."

"It's okay. I never knew my real parents, my foster mother is all the family I knew and she was a good mother."

"Ah'm glad to hear it. You know Ah probably would have been better off with a foster family, my own were so crazeh…"

Rogue spent the rest of the rest of the train ride talking to the woman who eventually introduced herself as "Ol' Mary," mainly listening to stories from Mary's life. They only stopped to sleep for a few hours. She barely noticed how fast the time passed. Before they both knew it, they were arriving at the station. As they both gathered their things to exit, Mary looked at Rogue and said, "You take care honey, woncha? You do look rather ill I'm afraid. Remember God'll be looking out for yah. Bye bye, Sweetie." Then they were on their separate ways.

Outside of the station, Rogue nearly melted. Pants, long sleeves, and gloves did not agree with the sweltering heat of Mississippi. She sighed and called for a cab. The ride was about an hour because Irene's house was still about 45 miles outside of Jackson. When they arrived, Rogue paid the 60-some dollar fare and the Cab took off, screaming down the quiet street. Suitcase in hand, Rogue walked slowly and deliberately up the grass-overgrown front walk. Upon reaching the front door, she could barely raise hand to ring the bell out of fear. As her finger poised on the button, the door swung open.

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A/N

I know I know, short chapter, please forgive. I couldn't resist the cliff hanger. It called to me. I might see a doctor for that.

I should update again soon (like late tonight.)

As always, thank you for reading.


	6. Unwelcome Help

Disclaimer- No ownage

Reviewers:

MidniteAngelGoth- here is the update. Sorry, the cliffie was seriously calling out to me.

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Chapter Six- The most unwelcome visitor

In a second, Rogue came face to face with a woman in dark glasses and short hair.

"Who's there, she called."

Rogue hesitated for a second; she could still leave. She could just run right now. But no, she had run enough. "It's me Irene," she said tentatively, "it's Rogue."

"Come in dear child," she implored opening the door to her foster daughter. Rogue entered the living room, old memories washing over her. The place looked exactly as it used to. "Then again," Rogue thought, "it wouldn't do for a blind woman to rearrange her furniture."

"Can I get you anything? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"No, no thank you. I'm fine."

"Okay dear, if you want, you can go put your stuff in your room and lay down. Did you come here straight from Bayville?"

"Yeah I did. How did you know I had stuff with me," Rogue asked curiously.

"I heard the suitcase rolling on the floor," she answered. Rogue had forgotten the tendency for other senses to heighten when one is lost.

"Oh," was her lame reply.

"So do you want to lay down?"

It seemed rude, but Rogue was exhausted. The rest on the train didn't cover a few months worth sleep deprivation. "Yeah, I think I will do that if you don't mind. Thank you."

"No problem dear child, everything in your room is just how you left it."

"Okay," Rogue said, heading over to her room that was at the far end of the hallway coming off the stairs. For obvious reasons, Irene slept in the master bedroom on the first floor. Weakly she dropped her suitcase on the floor about three feet into the room and collapsed on her bed. Not bothering to undress in the least, her body just shut down.

_"Look at me girly. I want to see your eyes when I'm in you. I want to see your pain." Her face was forced towards his, eyes pressed shut. A clawed finger forced one open. "That is a good girl. Now move with me." She stayed still even while he thrusted so heard she thought she would split. "Stupid girl, too stubborn to help yourself. You might as well relax, who knows you may enjoy it." _

_"No, I never will. Get away from me, Get away, get away, get away,_ GET AWAY!_"_

Rogue sat up immediately, panting hard. Her hands were balled up into fists and her mouth was dry. She probably had been shouting in her sleep. Irene was on the other side of the house. With any luck she hadn't heard her. No one was rushing to her room, so she was hopeful. Looking down, she saw the comforter was completely mangled and realized she must have been thrashing about as well. It was a damn miracle that Irene wasn't rushing in here.

Rogue laid back down for about 15 minutes before realizing that she was not about to fall asleep again anytime soon. She glanced at the clock; it read 2:53 AM. She had gotten to Irene's at about 10 AM meaning she had slept for almost 15 hours. No wonder she couldn't get back to sleep. Her stomach grumbled then, but after what she woke up to, she would not be able to keep food down. She hadn't eaten much more than a sandwich and water in about two days and still felt extremely nauseous. If only she could forget the feeling of him on her. The feeling of rough fur between her legs. Rogue took a deep breath. She couldn't eat but she definitely needed something to drink. Quietly she slipped down the stairs. Out of old habit she avoided the spots that squeaked. She had a tendency to sneak out when she was younger. She was about to turn the corner on the staircase when she heard voices. This puzzled her immensely. It didn't sound like a TV but what guests would Irene be tending to at 3:00 in the morning.

"How is the girl, Irene? Don't lie to me, is she alright" asked a concerned but somewhat cold voice. A voice that was all too familiar. "No," thought Rogue, begging, "please tell me I'm wrong tell me it isn't-"

"I don't know Raven, I spoke to her for about a minute and a half. She sounded so tired I sent her straight to bed. She hasn't gotten up since she went up at about 10:00 am."

"Are you sure she is still even alive," Raven asked in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, I'm sure she is still alive. She just doesn't seem to be doing so well."

"No surprise there. I never should have allowed her to go with Xavier. Look what happened under his care! I should have stopped-."

"How raven?" Irene interjected, "How would you have stopped her. She didn't listen to you at 12, what makes you think you could have convinced her at 15? It just wasn't an option. There is no reason to blame anyone but the truly guilty so drop it."

"Fine, I will drop it, but only until later. Right now I'm going to check on Rogue."

Rogue decided this was her cue for entrance, "Let me save you some trouble Mystique. I'm right here and I'm fine. Actually, I was just leaving, so see-ya."

"No Rogue, don't leave please, not until you understand," Irene begged.

"No Irene, I understand, I understand perfectly well. There is no way I can be within 1000 feet of this woman let alone the same house. I'm sorry it just isn't' feasible. If I knew she was dropping in I wouldn't have bothered you at all. Let me just grab my suitcase and I'm gone," Rogue stated heading towards the stairs.

"Rogue, Stop! Wait a second! Stop running off like a little child. We need to talk," Raven demanded walking after her.

"Talk? Like Hell we do! I have gotten enough talk from you for six lifetimes. Every word that comes out of your mouth is a manipulative lie. I don't want to hear it. I don't even want to see you! I hate you. I hate you for what you've done to me. I hate you for what you have done to my brother. I hate you for who you are!" Rogue had turned around on the first step, shouting her words, "I can not deal with you right not. Not after…I just can't. I understand you are as welcome here as me. I won't tell you to leave. I'll take care of that myself. Good bye," she said, turning back around and flying up the steps to her room to grab her suitcase. However as she turned to leave again, Mystique blocked the doorway. Rogue was in no mood to play games. In a low deadly voice she stated, "Move."

Raven matcher her voice perfectly replying with a steady, "No." Lifting her voice a bit, she continued, "Not until we talk."

"Forget it bitch, I'm done with you," Rogue spat.

"Please Rogue, hear her out," said Irene, who had snuck up behind Mystique, "we want to help you."

"Bullshit," Rogue argued, the only person Mystique ever helps is herself."

"I get it Rogue, you hate me, but I'm what you got right now." Raven explained.

"What the hell do you mean by that. And no, I don't hate you. I changed my mind. I loath, despise, and abhor you. Now move before I make you."

"I mean what I said, I'm what you've got right now. You left the institute, you need me. I am not going to move, so go and ahead and try to make me," she challenged.

Rogue faked a right punch, shoving her left fist into Mystique's stomach as she went to block the other it. As the blue woman doubled over, Rogue grabbed her bag, and slipped out past the two women and down the hallway. She flew down the steps, but before making it to the door, she was tackled from behind. Irene's call of, "Raven, be careful, don't harm the girl," seemed to be ignored. Rogue flipped over and tried to get up, but only succeeded in being pushed back to the floor on her back this time, head slamming into the thin carpet. Multicolored dots burst in front of her eyes. Mystique removed herself as Rogue's vision cleared. She stood up to see a pistol aimed at her face.

"You goin' to shoot me mother?" she asked in an almost humorous tone, slightly hindered by the lack of air reaching her lungs.

"Raven," Irene cried, "put the gun away!"

"Go ahead mother, 'cause guess what? I don't care! Kill me! I don't care! In fact, I want to die. So let me do you a favor, just hand the gun to me and I'll shoot myself. That way, you won't get into any trouble," Rogue shouted, holding out her hand to be given the gun.

"Don't be stupid Rogue," her mother said putting down her hand holding the gun, "I'm not going to shoot you."

"Damn, that might have been the first thing you did right for me too," she cursed, "well I'll be seeing you then."

"No Rogue, you aren't leaving yet, I'm sorry," Raven said behind her.

Rogue felt a sudden sharp blow to the back of her head. Then everything faded away.

* * *

A/N

Enter: Raven Darkholme.

Because Rogue's life isn't difficult enough.

I don't know when chapter seven will be out. I will shoot for tommorow, but i make no promises.

In other news I got one of the biggest compliments from a friend of mine when they seriously asked if I had been raped before. They said i wrote like I had been. Yes, I am warped enough to see that as a compliment. Honestly this work is a result of AP English. When you read Tess of d'Ubervilles followed by poems on Rape this is the result.

Warning to all people reading- if you ever take AP Literature, be prepared for a depressing year. Classics do not become so by being happy.

Lllama

Oh yeah- thanks for reading.


	7. Secrets Known

Disclaimer: I do not own of course

Reviewer:

MidniteAngelGoth- no I don't think their will be any romance. I was thinking about putting it in, but it would probably get too complicated. My next fic will have a lot of it though.

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**Chapter Seven- Secrets Known**

Rogue slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in her bed, daylight streaming across her comforter. The first thing she noticed was that she hadn't woken up from a nightmare for the first time in many days. The second thing she noticed was a dull throbbing at the back of her head. That is when she realized she hadn't woken up from a nightmare because she wasn't sleeping; she had been knocked unconscious. Rogue didn't bother to hold back a loud cry of anger.

Shortly after the sound, Mystique and Irene entered. "Good, I see that you are up," the blue woman stated, "I was beginning to think you would never wake."

For a moment Rogue was too outraged to speak but then she found the words, "May I remind you that the reason I was out is because of you hitting me upside the head because you seemed to have forgotten that."

"Of course I haven't, don't be stupid," her mother replied curtly, "I was just trying to help you."

"You put a gun to my head!" she shouted.

"You were hysterical," Raven explained calmly as if describing why she refilled a drink.

"You are fucking insane!" Rogue screamed, "What the hell do you want from me?"

"You are becoming irrational again, settle down."

In a quieter but no less passionate voice Rogue repeated her question.

"I told you before you lost it, that I am here to help you. I am the only one who can."

"Help me with what, may I ask?"

Mystique suddenly looked pained, as if she would rather be doing anything but forming the next words, "Sabertooth, I want to help with what Sabertooth did to you."

Rogue had predicted a great many things to exit her mother's mouth, but this most certainly wasn't an option. She looked to speak, but had neither the words nor the ability currently.

"And the girl finally shuts up," Raven said rolling her eyes.

"Raven…" Irene warned.

Mystique looked annoyed but didn't say anything further. Finally Rogue was able to spit out quietly, "How…how did you know about that. I didn't…I never…how did you find out?" She honestly wanted to cry. Her horrible mother had the worst thing to ever happen to Rogue in the palm of her hand. It wasn't fair, she didn't deserve to know. In a panic she came to a wild conclusion, "You sent him didn't you? You sent him to do that to me. That's how you knew! Get away from me, you bitch; you are horrible!"

For the first time in a long time Raven looked like someone had slapped her. Hard. All she could do was sputter random negatives to the accusations. It was Irene who spoke up for her, "Dear child, no! Raven would never, oh heavens no! Raven knew because I told her. I saw the vision and I told her."

"Vision?" Rogue asked vaguely, and then the concept clicked in her mind. "You saw a vision of what he was going to do to me. You see the future, and you saw what he was going to do to me, and you didn't even try to stop it. Not a phone call or a warning or a fucking telegram. You just let it happen!"

"No child, it wasn't like-"

"How could you! I trusted you!" Rogue was sitting up and screaming now, tears had started to roll down her face. The pain was just too much to bear. Irene had been her last hope. Mystique was the one who would let her fall without a second fall; Irene was supposed to catch her. Instead she had just let her get touched, get violated, get intruded. Mystique's betrayal didn't hold a candle to this revelation.

"Will you just listen to me for a second so I can expl-"

"No! I don't want to hear your excuses. Just let me leave. Let me get the hell out of here before I do something I regret."

"NO ROGUE," mystique suddenly shouted at her with great force, "You will not take one step of this bed without hearing Irene out. She raised you and you owe here at least that much. Just lay down and shut up for once!"

Rogue wanted to fight back and leave, but Mystique had pushed her back down and had placed a firm hand on her ribcage, holding her down. She could only squirm so long before it got pointless so she did as her mother asked.

"I did see what was going to happened before it did, but not soon enough. I only saw it minutes before it was to occur, much like the breakout of your powers. There was nothing I could do that would have prevented Sabertooth from grabbing you in the woods. I'm sorry Rogue, I'm so sorry," Irene finished in a choked voice.

She didn't speak for a while, she just couldn't. She just laid there, tears slowly tracing down her face. In a soft voice she said, "I believe you. I don't blame you. I'm sorry."

Irene came to the other side of the bed and grabbed a gloved hand.

Mystique broke the silence that had fallen by asking, "Now will you accept our help?"

"I will never accept your aid. I don't want you near me. You have never helped me," Rouge replied in an icy tone.

Raven opened her mouth to speak, or perhaps shout, but Irene interjected in a calm, soothing voice, "I know you don't want your mother's help, Rogue, but she can help you. She understands your situation, she knows what it feels like."

"I don't care," was her slow deliberate reply, "I don't need her help. I don't anyone's help. If I did, I would have stayed at the institute and asked for it. They are a bit more experienced in actually making people feel better."

"No you wouldn't have. You never would have asked for their help," Raven replied matter-of-factly, "They never would have understood and you know that. You really think Miss Picture-Perfect red head could help you out, sympathize with the lonely Goth girl? Face Rogue I'm what you got not only because you left, but also because I'm the only one who understands you. You never fit in at Xavier's, don't deny it. You just don't belong there."

"That isn't true, Logan-" she began

"Whoop-di-do. You managed to companionship in an old feral man who hates the world. That isn't fitting in my book."

Rogue desperately wanted to defend herself, prove her mother wrong. She wanted to give proof that she fit in at the Institute, that she was close to everyone, but it just wasn't true. It would be easier to prove that the sky was orange. She could never fit the image of the wonderful institute student. Kitty and Jean were well-adjusted good students with loving parents. Kurt and Scott had strange family situations, but they were happy and kind people. Even the new recruits fit the image of the glorious, happy teenager, even with their mutant powers. Rogue always stood far from that. She just couldn't deny it. So instead she pulled the covers over her head and simply said, "Go away!"

Mystique started saying, "Rog-" but was evidently silenced with a look from Irene. The two women left the room, giving Rogue some well-needed peace.

After the door was shut rogue started considering the situation. Did she want Mystiques help? Not by a long shot. She didn't need any help, especially the kind that came from the woman claiming to be her mother. She was honest when she stated that she wanted the women nowhere near her. However what was it that Irene had said? Oh yeah, that Raven understood her situation, that she knew how Rogue felt. Did that mean that Mystique had been raped as well? Did someone hold her down and force their way into her as well? With Mystiques abilities, Rogue found that hard to believe. Irene could have been saying anything to calm her down. But then again, with Rogues abilities, she was probably the only woman in the world who could never get violated and look was happened to her. It wasn't fair. Did she really deserve what happened to her? Why didn't it happy to anyone else? The image of her stone mother crashing into the water below her suddenly flashed before her eyes. Of course she deserved it. Why else would it happen to her? He last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep again were, "maybe I should just take Sabertooth's advice and just be grateful that I won't die a virgin."

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A/N

AAAAAAND...there we go.

The seventh installment is done.

I might have one more before I go on vacation until the 19th of June. Well actually I'm driving with my dad up to college for orintation, and then coming back and the next day I go on Vacation. So most likely you won't hear from me until the 19th.

Sorry to leave you. I will be working on my story over vacation, I just won't be able to update.

Jungle

Please Review


	8. Absence and Return

Disclaimer- You really think I would be spending my time writing random stories if I owned all this?

Reviews (These are only the ones from chapter seven, so if I missed you, my apologies)

Sinister Bra- Yeah, I cannont see a normal mother-daughter relationship with Rogue and Raven. I agree, it just isn't there. It would be nice for them to get along and dance in Lilies, but that isn't an option. Rogue has been hurt to many times by the women and Raven isn't completely heartless but she does priotize her plans and benefits over anyone else's. She could try but she just has no idea how to go about being a mother.

Ish- Yep, Mystique tends to screw with everything.

MAG (I'm getting lazy, lol)- you will just have to wait, I'm afraid to say.

Nettlez- High five right back. Thank you very much.

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Chapter 8- Absense and Return

She woke the next morning without a nightmare. It was a small blessing in the current state of things. She lethargically got dressed and applied her make-up. Today she could tell the difference between her purple eye shadow and the dark circles that were usually found around her eyes. Another small blessing.

Rogue put gloves on as a final touch as she headed downstairs. Irene was making coffee in the kitchen. Morning greetings were exchanged as Irene handed over a mug. It took only through the fist sip for Rogue to notice an absence. Before she could even ask Raven said, "She's gone Rogue."

"What?" Rogue immediately asked. Gone could mean many things.

"She is gone for a week and a half at least. She had business. It seemed urgent," Irene elaborated.

Business. That made Rogue want to laugh. Owning a pet shop was business. Going to your cubicle from nine to five was business. Terrorism and murder was not business in Rogue's book, no matter how much money was involved. "Fine," she replied flatly.

"She didn't to leave you. It was important." Irene stated. Rogue had the feeling that these were Irene's assumptions rather than reality.

"I don't care. I'm glad that she isn't here," Rogue replied.

"I know." Irene said with a sigh.

After about ten minutes Irene got up and left the kitchen. However she returned only about a minute later holding a grocery bag. She handed it Rogue stating, "Before Raven left, she wanted to give this to you." Rogue opened the bag and saw the contents were two items. One was a box of hair die; a couple of brown shades darker than her own, and the other was a bottle of make-up remover. It was quite possible that her mother was hinting at something.

"Your moth-eh-Raven felt that-considering the circumstance of your departure and current mutant standings- that it would be best if-"

"I wasn't recognized," Rogue finished.

Irene nodded, "you don't have to of course, but I do agree with Raven that perhaps it would be best if you weren't as-"

"I understand. Don't worry about it," Rogue interrupted again. Irene merely nodded again.

Rogue closed the bag again and headed up to her bathroom. She saw no reason not to start now. Almost an hour later she emerged, dark wet hair falling around her head and her pale face devoid of make-up. Her newfound plainness would ensure that not only would she not be recognized, but also she probably would hardly be noticed at all. That of course was the intention. Rogue went back downstairs to find Irene reading a book on the couch. Her eyes instinctively darted towards Rogue as she shuffled into the room, fingers paused on a line of bumps. She said nothing as Rogue went over to the shelf to pick up one of her old novels. When she found a preference she settled in the large comfy chair beside her foster mother. Irene's fingers picked up their travels across the white page. That action was all it took for Rogue to be thirteen again, safe in her house before all the madness had engulfed her. There was no mutant politics, no nightmares belonging to others, no invasion on her body. Ignorance was bliss.

The next ten or so says were much the same. Rogue picked up her old habits and chores around the house, pretending she had never left. She just didn't' have school anymore. In a small corner of mind Rogue knew that this was just some pathetic façade. However that corner was small enough to ignore. Pain loomed at the edge of her mind, but she continued to push it away. She just wasn't going to think about it. Rogue knew that she was going to eventually forget and everything would be okay.

IT was a Friday when Mystique returned. Rouge was making dinner (a chores she did often when she was younger) when she heard the door open and shut. Only one person she knew of would come straight in without knocking. Wincing, Rogue pulled out a couple more pieces of chicken and dumped them in with the rest. The murmur of voices drifted through the kitchen.

When everything was set, Rogue went to the living room and announced that dinner would be ready in 15 minutes. She spoke only to Irene, having glanced over at Mystique once and not looked back since.

"Okay dear, thank you." Irene replied warmly as though she thought she could set the mood for the evening.

Rogue turned to return to the kitchen, but Mystiques voiced halted her steps.

"Do you have to do that?"

Even though she knew she would regret the question later Rogue asked, "Do what?"

"Act like I'm something unpleasant on the bottom of your shoe." she replied, anger touching her voice.

"You don't really want me to answer that do you?" asked Rogue in a sardonic tone.

Mystique glowered, and Rogue returned the look full force, green narrowed eyes challenging yellow. Tension seemed to roll into the room like a thick fog. A sudden beeping from the kitchen startled all three women. Rogue whirled around to deal with the offending alarm. No one stopped her this time.

Ten minutes later three places at the small table were set and filled accordingly. Only the small tings of silverware were heard in the house during the meal. Irene seemed to have forgone her usual mediator role tonight.

After dinner, Irene stood up and went to gather dishes, but Rogue stopped her. "Don't worry about it," she said," I've got it."

"I can-"

"No Irene," Raven put in, "We got it." That replacement of 'I' with 'We' was most defiantly not lost on Rogue. She, if possible, frowned even deeper than before.

In the kitchen Mystique picked up a towel stating, "you wash, I'll dry." Rogue nodded, not really caring. She wasn't about to start a blow out over dishes.

When they were almost through, Raven stated in a confident tone, "After we are done we are going for ice-cream. You and I are going."

This odd statement took at least thirty seconds to register in Rogue's head. Another half minutes was needed after that for her to find the words to reply.

"What?" she asked blinking more than was necessary.

Still drying a frying pan, Mystique repeated her previous statement. The pan was the last dish to be dried, so as soon as it was placed back in it's rightful spot, Mystique looked back at her daughter still standing there staring at her and said, "Come on then. Get your shoes, we are going now."

Rogue still refused to move. All she could think of to say was, "Are you serious?"

"Yes. Let's go."

"No."

"What?"

"No. I'm not going with you."

"Yes you are."

"What do you want? Where are you going to take me?"

"I want ice cream. I'm taking you to an ice-cream shop."

"I don't believe you."

Mystique squinted her eyes, trying to control her temper. She was about to speak when Irene's voice rang out from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Go with her Rogue. It is okay, I promise."

Rogue started at her for a moment before nodding and going for her shoes. Irene's promises were far from gold, but Rogue had precious few people she could depend on. It was getting hard to distrust everyone. Plus Irene had raised her pretty well, and never would put her in extreme danger that she knew of. The question was now, "how much did Irene actually know?" or "was Rogue completely wrong?" Either way Rogue was in the passenger side of a small car looking out the window and trying to fight the feeling that she was being set up.

* * *

A/N

Okay guys and dolls, I am back from vacation.

I apologize that I am updating this story without the important part that is coming but I promise I will have it up soon.

Many apologies on lack of editing. I am lazy and my beta doesn't have interent for a while since he just moved. I promise i will edit and re-post later.

As a side note- writing angst is very diffucult on a beautful beach.

Another side note- My other story should be updated soon as well.

Leaf


	9. Her only help

Disclaimer- squints eyes really hard Do I own it yet? Damn, better luck next time

Reveiwers:

Ish- Here you go, quick as a bunny on crack, lol

Numbah- Never fear, Logan will be back ( Just not quite yet)

Jade- no romance in this fic, i'm sorry to say. Maybe in a squeal, just not this one. That is what my other fic is for!

* * *

Chapter Nine- Her only help

She and Mystique had been in the car about ten minutes when Rogue realized that they were going the wrong way.

"Where are we going," Rogue asked, not bothering to hide the suspicion in her voice, "DQ was back off of Willow St."

"We are going to Kissinger's Ice Cream," Mystique replied patiently.

"Why?" Rogue demanded. Kissinger's was about 15 miles further than the local DQ.

"Because DQ doesn't have double chocolate cookie dough, which is your favorite, Kissinger's does," she explained. It was Rogue's favorite ice-cream. It was also Risty's. Going to get it was a Friday tradition between the two. But there was no Risty was there. It was always Mystique. Was Mystique's favorite ice-cream double chocolate cookie dough or was that just a lie like everything else? Was it just another trick to get the two closer? For a moment Rogue entertained the idea of asking the blue woman about the ice-cream but soon realized how stupid that would be. Since when did ice-cream matter? Apparently since about five minutes ago.

"So what is the mansion like now? Soccer star and her boyfriend still together?"

Rogue didn't say anything for a moment. She really didn't want to make small talk with this woman, but eventually she offered a flat, "yeah" and half shrug.

"Damn, I would have loved to hear about a messy break-up from those two. Xavier's little pets."

"Everyone's little pets. The amazing talented college students. Team leaders with their perfect relationship, always cuddling up around the mansion. It was a miracle I wasn't ill half the time."

"You don't still…"

"No!"

"Just making sure, because you were forever staring at him with those stupid little googly-"

"Momentary lapse of judgment! Boy scout isn't for me."

"Good."

"Besides, the couple of the year is probably going to end up married in like a month."

"With two point five children."

"White picket fences."

"And a dog."

"Not just any dog, it will have to be lassie."

"Yes, heaven forbid the pet not be able to save as many lives as them."

The two looked at each other for a moment before starting to laugh. They were still chuckling as they pulled into Kissinger's.

Ten minutes later they were seated at a small table with two bowls of dark ice-cream on it. Mystique had ordered double chocolate cookie dough as well. For some reason this made Rogue a little happier. She didn't know if it was her favorite, but at least she didn't hate the stuff. One less lie.

Another blessing was that Raven currently looked like herself except for normal colored skin and a more auburn hair color instead of bright red. Rogue was rather thankful that she hadn't tried to become Risty or something. Mystique as Mystique was all she could take right now.

Beside them a typical teenage couple was sharing a large waffle cone bowl of some dessert. Mystique and Rogue both watched as they fed each other giggling like idiots and holding hands. Rogue made a face and Mystique nodded in agreement.

"Bet you a soda that she is a panicker" Mystique said with a smirk.

"No way, she seems way too calm. She will ask questions first." Rogue said.

Mystique shook her head, "she will freak."

"You are on." Rogue challenged. This was an old game that Risty and Rogue used to play when they went for ice-cream. First step was to find a couple. Dating teenagers was the preference and they could always be found at the store on a Friday evening. Second step was the bet. If they girl thought her little boyfriend was cheating, would she freak out, or patiently ask questions and try to find out the story? The third step was of course finding out the truth. That was the fun part. All they had to do was wait for the girl to go to the bath room. On a date this was a guarantee. The girl would always check her make-up after eating. Then Risty would go in for the kill. The girlfriend would come back to find a british chick on her boyfriends lap, hanging all over him like they had known each other for years. The screamers were always fun.

They waited a minute and right on cue, the blond teenager excused herself to the bathroom. Mystique went right after her and seconds later a busty blond headed straight for the table. Rogue had to admit that this was more fun with a shape shifter than Risty, who had to pretend to be non-mutant. Blondie returned to find a new girl in her boyfriends lap, whispering whatever into his ear.

"You cheating bastard," she screamed before stomping out of small shop.

"Wait!" the boyfriend called in vain before pushing Raven off of his lap and chasing after the angry girlfriend.

Rogue cursed and went up to get the two sodas.

Darkness had fallen while the two had eaten ice-cream. As they made their way home, Mystique suddenly pulled off the main road and went down a smaller one. It lead to a little park where she stopped the car. She rolled down the windows a bit for air and then turned off the car.

"What is this?" Rogue hissed, "I want to go back home." She should have known. Ice-cream her ass, this was all just a set up. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk Rogue." She said in a serious tone.

"No! Take me home. I don't want to have a 'talk' with you. Just leave me alone."

"For God's sakes Rogue, don't make this harder than it has to be. For once stop throwing a fit like a five-year-old."

"Go to hell," Rogue spat.

Mystique chose to ignore the comment and instead continued, "I know neither one of us will like this but it has to be done. You were raped Rogue and now you have to deal with it."

Rogue involuntary cringed and pushed herself into the car door trying to make herself as small as possible. "You were raped." How could she say it that bluntly? The sentence was a knife that dug into her. She struggled to protest, offering a barely forceful, "Don't. Please, just leave me alone."

"I can't do that."

"Yes you can," Rogue gained energy through anger, "You managed to leave me alone any time I needed help. You can do it now. This isn't your business. Let me be! You don't understand. You never will. Just take me back.!"

"I know I'm not mother of the Rogue, but I am what you have! You are going to have to accept me, because I'm the only one who can help you."

"NO YOU CAN'T!" Rogue screamed, then tried to open the door. Realizing it was locked, she went to unlock it, but it immediately locked again. She attempted again, this time ready to open the door as soon as she got the mechanism, but a blue arm grabbed hers and pulled her away. Instantly she could feel the pressure on her wrist as her arms were held above her head on the cold ground. "Don't touch me!" she shouted, instantly pulling back her hand in panic.

She went to open the door, but froze at Mystique's voice, "It reminds you of it every time someone touches you, doesn't it? Any time someone is on top of you or even gets too close all you can see is being forced down. You see that when you try to sleep too. Anytime you close your eyes that is all you can remember. The way you were powerless, the way he took advantage of you. You feel dirty when you think about it. You know you will never be clean again. You know that the feeling of his hands will never leave you completely. You feel like that it is your entire fault, that if only you did something different everything would be fine. If only you were a better fighter, if only you had been somewhere else, if only you were someone else."

"Shut up," Rogue ordered hugging her knees to her chest. She didn't want to hear this. She didn't want her mother to understand. She didn't want her to be right, but she was. She held back tears, eyes burning, as long as possible but gravity soon won and they started to fall. Mystique reached her arm out as if to comfort the girl, but seemed to think better of it and pulled it back.

"How do you know all that? How could you possibly know? With your powers you could get out of any situation." She said bitterly. She refused to believe that Mystique could understand her. It wasn't fair. Why her? Why not someone at the institute? Mystique couldn't be the only one. It just wasn't fair.

"I didn't always have my powers Rogue. Those abilities come with puberty Rogue, as I'm sure you know. Before that I was just a normal human living with my parents. I was powerless and living with my father.

Rogue watched her mother as she said this. She saw the look in her eyes as she mentioned her father, saw the hollowed look of pain and betrayal. It was only for a second, but it had been there. She had planned on demanding details, having Mystique prove that she had even one tiny ounce of understanding towards her situation. However, now she had all the evidence she needed. Mystique was the one to help her and it, dear God, it just wasn't fair.

"Let me tell you something Rogue, something that took me many years to learn. There are a thousand and one things you can bury within yourself, a thousand and one things that can be packed away and forgotten, this is not one of them. No matter how hard you try you don't have a chance in the world of just making it go away. The only hope you have is to face it."

"Drop it," Rogue stated, "I'm handling it without you. Just leave me alone, it isn't important."

"Yes it is!" Mystique argued angrily, "Listen, you don't understand but you have no choice if you don't want to be destroyed by what happened to you. You really want Sabertooth to have that much control over you? You really want to be that pathetic? That is what you will end up if you don't suck it up now. You will be weak and pathetic." Rogue opened her mouth to oppose this but Mystique quickly stated, "Don't you dare interrupt me. I am not done. You got raped, simple as that." Rogue had started to wince at her words, but Mystique ignored it, "Sabertooth made you powerless and put himself inside of you. You have to deal with that now. No more hiding. No more pretending everything is fine and dandy. Face it now and accept it, or you will be destroyed by it."

A heavy silence fell upon the car until Rogue said in a forced calm voice, "Take me home. Now."

Surprisingly, Mystique obliged without argument and they made the drive home in silence.

* * *

Well there you go, another chapter. This one has mercibly been edited.

Well, all i have to say is do that Review thing that you do.

Little button down to the left.

Much appreciated

Underwear


	10. Conquering

Discla...you get the idea

Ish- yes, this story even makes me depressed as I write it. But alas, I continue...

Nettlez- Yep, mystique has a lot of her own issues. As they said, abused children often make abusive parents. Not a nice cycle really, but that is life.

* * *

Chapter Ten- Conquering

When the got into the house Mystique quietly said, "I have to leave tonight. I don't know when I'll be back." Rogue shrugged apathetically. She still didn't care if her mother was around or not. One night of ice cream and parenting attempts wasn't going to change that.

Rogue went up to her room and tried to sleep. It was a fitful night. Constant nightmares kept her tossing and turning, waking up in terror every so often. Finally she gave up and just curled under her covers, just letting the tears fall from her eyes. She just couldn't face it, it was just too hard. Eventually she cried herself to exhaustion and sleep claimed her.

Irene greeted Rogue the next morning. It was too bright and cheerful, even for the somewhat loving morning. Mystique had undoubtedly told her about the previous night. There was no way Rogue was going to deal with that.

"I'm going for a walk." She said in a tone that dissuaded any argument that Irene may have had.

"Okay dear, be careful."

Rogue headed towards an old park she frequented before she got her powers. Just like she used to, she sat on a swing lost in her own thoughts. She was so lost in her own mind it took a while for her to notice she was getting wet. Rain had started to fall gently all around her. She looked up and saw that dark clouds had gathered over the area. If she didn't get home soon, it would start to pour on her.

It started to rain harder so Rogue increased her pace down the sidewalk back to her home. Looking down so as to not get water in her eyes, she didn't see the stranger until she crashed into him.

"Ooof," he said and grabbed her arms to stop her from falling, "steady there."

His grasp caused her to panic completely, quickly shouting, "Don't touch me," and slamming herself into the fence bordering the sidewalk. The stranger stared at her for a moment, lost as to what to do, but then decided to just leave her walking off at a quick pace. He didn't even look back. Rogue didn't notice. She was currently singing down the fence ignoring the scrapes that the old wood was giving her. Water soaked her pants as she sat in a puddle, rain pouring down her body, head in hands. This was her mother's fault. She had been fine before. The nightmares had become less frequent; she didn't panic as much around touch. All she had to do was push the bad feelings down a bit each morning. Her mother had reversed all that last night. She forced Rogue to remember and think about it. She had woken to his face this morning. She freaked out over the smallest touch. Mystique had screwed her over entirely. She didn't know if she had the strength to push the pain down again.

"Child, Is that you?" A voice interrupted her from her thoughts. Irene stood over her, walking stick in one hand, umbrella in the other.

"You shouldn't be out here Irene, you could slip," Rogue stated, her flat tone not matching the attempted compassion of her words.

"Come on Rogue, you are going to get sick if you stay out here in the rain," Irene said, switching the umbrella to her other hand to offer the free one to Rogue. Rogue stood up without taking it, simply saying, "Lets go."

When they went in, Irene told Rogue to go change while she made something to eat for them both. Rogue declined the offer.

"You really should eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

Irene protested, "But you really need to-"

"I'm not hungry!" Rogue said in a loud voice and headed up the stairs to change. She spent the rest of the day in her room listening to music and nodding off here and there for short periods of time. She declined dinner as well, ignoring the worried look on Irene's face.

At about 11:00 PM Rogue lay awake. She just couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't only Sabertooth keeping her awake now. Mystique's words, "you will be weak and pathetic" echoed in her mind. She hated her for telling her that. She hated her for bringing back all the memories. And most of all she hated her for being right. She couldn't push everything down, not for very long anyways. It was always at the edge of her mind, always looming. As it stayed there, it got stronger, threatening to overtake her at any moment. The last couple of weeks had been a personal joke. She had a handle on nothing and nothing was fine. Rogue could deny the truth no longer.

Mystique had told her that she had to face it. Rogue was supposed to deal and accept. Mystique had forgotten to tell her how. Her wonderful mother had given her a demand without any instructions.

For lack of any better idea, Rogue took the word 'face' literally and pictured Sabertooth. It made her feel sick. She could see his confident smirk as he positioned himself over her. Then there was the way he closed his eyes, as he started moving with in her. Rogue squeezed her face, trying to force the image out of her head. She didn't want to see it. She couldn't relieve it. She pushed the memory out of her consciousness the best she could. Staring at her blank ceiling, it occurred to her what she had just done.

Rogue cursed, realizing that she had pushed the pain away again. She was being weak and pathetic and running away again. Rogue understood now. Dealing meant remembering. She had to see her memory and relive the worst moments of her life just to move on from this moment. She couldn't procrastinate any longer, no matter how much she wanted to. Closing her eyes she pictured herself walking home from school…

He came out of the woods, smiling at her. 

It was so stupid of her to have been walking home like that. If she had just gone with someone else, everything would be different.

_He fought her to the ground, putting the ring on her neck._

If only she wasn't so weak, she could have gotten away.

_He ripped open her clothes._

If only…

If only what? What could she have done to stop her clothes from ripping? That wasn't her fault. If she hadn't been there in the first place…No! That wasn't her fault either! She should have been able to walk home. That wasn't her fault! Sabertooth attacked her. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't to blame. She could blame Sabertooth. Fucking bastard. This was his fault. She sat up, empowered and clenching her fists.

It wasn't her fault. She understood it now. She was a victim. An innocent victim. She could see his actions now, crystal clear. They still hurt like hell and boy did it make her want to be ill, but it wasn't the same anymore. She wasn't going to get beat by it. She was going to be strong. The victory from her silence with Logan was nothing compared to this. That was helping him, winning by not hurting someone else. Tonight, Rogue was going to save herself.

Logan.

Logan would have been proud, if he had been allowed to find out. "The Rogue I know wouldn't take that off of anybody." She smiled and wiped the tears from her face. She wasn't going to cry anymore.

Anger surged through her as she remembered.

"Have a good day girly," he had said with an arrogant smile.

"Fucking bastard!" she cursed, clenching her fists in the air beside her. Then there was pain. She closed her eyes as she felt it travel down her arms. Fearing the worst, she opened her eyes, not wanting to look at her hands. Blood spattered her bedspread around her in tiny dots. She took in a sharp breath and dared to look at her hands. Long spikes of white bone extended from them. The gleamed in the dim light of the moon. Ow. She had known from absorbing Logan that there was pain involved with the claws, even excluding the initial operation. For God's sakes, tt was literally pieces of metal shoot through your hand. In Rogue's case it was just bone. However, she had never experienced the actual emerging before and it hurt. Yes, her skin immediately healed around the claws, but it only dimmed the pain. Filled or not, there were still holes in her hand.

Rogue slowed her breathing down, trying to restore herself to a calm state. She was using other mutant's powers again and it was not good. She never had control over absorbed abilities long after she got them. They were just put in the back of her mind, as though filling up a closet. Had it become full again? Like before? Rogue didn't think so. It had just been her anger. The professor had explained once or twice that mutant powers were tied very closely with emotion. She had only truly lost all control after she found out that her mother had betrayed her again. The anger of that had set her off at the concert. Fortunately she was only dealing with one power right now. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to deal with it.

Squinting her eyes, Rogue willed the claws back into her body, ignoring the fact that it was borderline disgusting. "Go in, go in," she whispered over and over. She let out an angry cry when nothing happened. She could feel the other powers lurch at her anger. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'I can't take more than one. I need to calm down." Forcing slow breaths again, she counted slowly to twenty. 'I can do this,' she thought, 'I can do this.'

Rogue had no idea how to control Logan's power. However, Logan would know. Finding his personality, memories, etc, she let him wash over her. She pictured pulling the claws back in and mercifully they followed her lead. After her hands fully healed, she quickly pushed Wolverines personality back into the recesses of her mind, feeling like herself again. The shock of bone claws plus Wolverine's healing ability made sure that Rogue was completely awake now.

Rogue wasn't overjoyed at that development. She didn't really want to think all night about how her powers could be going crazy all over again. It looked like, though, she didn't have a choice in the matter.

* * *

A/N

Well we are in the double digits in chapter amount. Just though I would point that out for no reason whatsoever.

So now Rogue gets to deal with rape, mutant powers, and her messed up mother.

I wonder how that will turn out... (Oh yeah, I know)

You all get to wonder.

As always (though not always stated) thank you for reading. Feel free to review (and by feel free i mean please do).

Angel Food Cake


	11. Chapter 11

Discliamer- I don't own marvel, stan lee, etc

Reviews: Only three, but apparently there are a lot of hits so it is okay.

Ashan- glad to be of service

Nini- Even though I have no idea what you look like, i can picture your dramatic pose (not stupid at all). It made me laugh. HOwever I have to give credit to my beta for spelling and grammer though I'm hopless on my own.

Ish- love the quick review. Yeah I am being pretty mean to little Rogue, but now she actually has some power.

* * *

It was barely six in the morning. Logan sat outside the mansion, smoking a well-needed cigar. He heard the motorcycle roar nearby. One sniff told him all he needed to know. Sabertooth. Fur-face had apparently made his way back to Bayville. 'Time to show him the way back out again,' he thought grabbing his helmet and hopping on his motorcycle. Wolverine roared away, following a scented trail.

It led him to look out point. Logan quickly stopped his bike and ripped off his helmet to face his rival who was currently just standing against his own bike without a care in the world.

"What's your game Creed," he asked in a low voice, "I thought I made it clear you aren't welcome here."

"No worries Weapon X, I'm just visiting. Thought I would find out how your darling little students are doing."

Logan narrowed his eyes. Sabertooth was up to something and he had to find out what. "Who sent you here," he demanded.

Sabertooth continued to smile, "You should clear those ears out Logan. I just told you. I'm here to check up on your little piggies. You know- the four eyes, the little cat, your little Rogue. Yes, how is your little Rogue doing? I haven't seen her around lately."

"She's fine." Logan replied vaguely, not liking where this was going. He wanted to know what the hell what the hell Rogue had to do with Sabertooth. Had he done something to her? Was she all right? Anger boiled at the possibilities.

"Really now...nothing troubling her? She doesn't' seem to leave the mansion anymore." This statement told Logan many things. First off, Sabertooth had been around a while and was watching the X-men. Second off, he didn't know that Rogue had left; showing that he probably hadn't done anything to her. However it did open the door to other questions such as, why the hell was he interested in Rogue all of a sudden. He wanted to find that out before he beat the living shit out of his old nemesis.

"Why are you so interested in Rogue all of a sudden, Creed," he asked. Logan didn't have the patience for stupid mind games to find information.

"What can I say? We are just that close, but you must already know that."

"You better spill whatever the fuck you are trying say Creed before I force it out of you." Logan had been very good thus far, but his patience was wearing very thin. He wanted a fight.

Sabertooth stared at him oddly, almost in confusion, though it was difficult to discern that. Then he started to laugh. "You have no idea do you? Not a fucking clue." He laughed harder. "And here I thought you two were close. But look at the little secrets she has kept from you. She is just a little tease huh?"

Logan growled, shooting the claws of his skin. He had had enough. "I don't know what the hell you are playing at, but I'm sick of hearing about it." He lunged at Sabertooth who leaped out of the way.

"Frustrated Logan? I would be too, not being able to touch her like that. Must be hard." Logan could suddenly smell lust radiating off of Sabertooth.

"Not being able to touch her? What the fuck are you talking about?" He growled. Wolverine couldn't believe what Sabertooth was insinuated. He was going to pay this time. Logan and Rogue? Sick bastard.

This time he swiped at Sabertooth's face with shining claws. Sabertooth grabbed his hand and twisted, bring Logan to the ground. In a rebuttal, Wolverine swung his leg around, bring his opponent to the ground as he jumped up and on top of him, claws at his throat. Sabertooth returned the attack with an uppercut to Logan's jaw as he threw him aside. They both stood again, crouched over and circling.

"I feel bad for you, Weapon X, never getting to touch your little Rogue, never getting to make her scream. If you like, I can tell you what it is like. I'm the only who tell you, because I'm the only who would know."

"You are full of shit, Creed and you better shut the hell up."

"You so sure? I can give you details if you like. The way she screamed, the way she begged for me for mercy, the way it felt…inside her."

Logan gnashed his teeth in fury, "You really think I'm gonna believe that Sabertooth? You seem to forget that you can't touch either?"

"Did you know Weapon X that there is a collar out that that negates mutant abilities. Trust me it stops the absorbing ones too."

Logan almost laughed. If he weren't so angry about Sabertooth talking about rogue that way, he would have. His story was just that ridiculous. He shook his head. "Enough talk, lets settle this like men, shall we?" He said taking a step forward.

"You don't believe me do you? Shame, I'll tell you, your pretty little Rogue tastes so good." He said, licking his lips.

"That's it, you're done." Logan said, tackling him.

"Tell me something Logan, has your little girlfriend been acting differently lately? Anything about her seem changed?"

Logan planned on ignoring this, but flashes of memory flooded his mind.

Logan pinned her to the ground. She looked back up at him with absolute terror, screaming like she was being stabbed. She had told her it was one of her dreams, but that had never happened before. She had been in pure panic.

"_I'm leaving tomorrow"_

No. God no. Logan didn't want to believe, but everything snapped together so horribly. Rogue had come home soaking wet and it made no sense that she fell into water but he had accepted it. Had she put herself in on purpose or had Sabertooth-

His thoughts were interrupted by the fact that he had started to fly through the air. Sabertooth had scene a golden opportunity to attack Wolverine, taking advantage of that fact that he was lost in thought. Wolverine tried to quickly recover from crashing into the fence, but Sabertooth was faster. A second later he had crashed on the side of the cliff rolling down at breakneck speed. IT took several seconds for his claws to catch on something hard in the loose dirt. By the time he made it back up, Sabertooth was gone. Logan could follow his scent, but it would be no use. Sabertooth would cover it soon.

Logan roared into he morning air, slashing a tree to bits. He then mounted his motorcycle and raced back to the mansion. He had to find Rogue.

Four hours previously, Irene Adler turned in her sleep. The dream didn't wake her, but she would remember it when she woke hours later.

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A/N

Aaaaaaaand Logan returns...

Sorry this is a short chapter, I'm fighting writers block I'm afraid. I have a plan, but it doesn't like to be put down on paper (computer) in most cases.

Speaking of which, my other story is coming, but slowly. I am really stuck on the next chapter.

Wrapping Paper


	12. Saved

Disclaimer- the ususal

Reviews:

Jikei- wolverine rules, simple as that.

Ish- out of pure curiosity, does a nerf ball shoot out of you computer to smack you in the head everytime I update, because holy cow to you review quickly. I appriciate it of course, just curious. I think a lot of people would rather have Wolverine helping Rogue than Mystique. Comfort isn't her forte

Nettlez- hope you did well on your exam! Thank you for valuing my story over other responsibilites, lol.

Sinsinster Bra- yep I'm on a roll with this one. Here is the next chapter quick quick.

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Chapter 12- Saved

Rogue glanced over at the clock. It read 4:53 A.M. She had taken a small nap, but was forced awake by a dream. She had jumped out of an airplane with her younger brother while her parents stayed in the crashing airplane. It was a miserable memory and as was par for her power, not even hers. Rogue wasn't the least surprised about this. Her burst of anger had turned up the volume of the presences in her mind. The louder they were, the greater their influence and the more chance there was for small bits of their traits to appear in her life, dreams being most common. When she was asleep, her mind was weakest as the professor explained to her one time. Also on that day he suggested that she try to analyze her power, as she knew it best. "Keep a journal," he said, "Try to describe your power and how it makes you feel."

It sounded like a bad line out of a self-help book but Rogue had complied, and eventually she came up with CD players. There was a common misconception over her power. When she described loud voices, they thought there were whole people just walking around her mind talking to her. It was not even close to being that simple. Hence why it took so much time and effort to put it down on paper as something others could understand. CD Players had come the closest.

Each person was a CD player with a different CD. Each player had a volume button. The volume button was the most easily understood portion of her power. The stronger the force in her mind, the louder the volume. Control was turning down the volume. When the professor had cleared her mind after her surge, he had essentially put the volume on mute. It was quite nice. However after apocalypse the mute button had apparently broken. With effort, she could turn the volume down, but never off. And of course, the more emotional she got, the higher the little dial turned until it overtook her.

The overtaking/CD part was the extremely complicated part. First off each person's CD was different like rock versus rap. There are also specifications on each CD. Some had more tracks than others. Those were people that have been absorbed more often and therefore put more information (tracks) into her mind.

In the music world there are artists that have albums of music where every song sounds the same. Then there are albums where songs are radically different (though you can still tell it is the same artist). This is true for Rogue's head. The CD's where the songs are pretty different signify a longer hold on a person. They have been absorbed longer and deeper, therefore their thoughts are more complex and different. The rest have similar songs because only surface memories have been taken in. They could have as many tracks as the other artists because they could have been absorbed more than once, but still only surface memories have been taken in.

The voices are CD's because they aren't whole people. They are just fragments that are repeated over and over again, like a teddy bear with a string. There can be various phrases, but they don't change.

Now when a voice took her over, it was like the volume of their music got so loud Rogue could hear her own thoughts anymore. The pieces of personality, memory, and power that Rogue absorbs took over her body. Right after she absorbed someone, she could separate their mind from their power, but when they came back from her mind it was a package. Their personality was whatever she had grabbed from them when she touched them. Usually it wasn't very amicable considering they were usually taken down in a fight.

Sadly enough that was the simple version. Rogue filled her little journal with random paragraphs, arrows, charts, squiggly lines, and humorously enough a picture of a bunch of little CD players with names beside them.

She sighed. Right now the volume buttons were louder then they had been in a while and showed no signs of going back down. Her strong emotions were going to make her lose control all over again.

Not being able to think of anything more productive to do, she curled up under the covers in a pathetic attempt to sleep some more.

At seven, she joined Irene in the kitchen over coffee. Irene looked worn, as if she hadn't slept well either.

"Are you okay Irene?" Rogue asked, concerned.

"No Rogue, I have bad news." She said slowly.

Dread filled as she gazed her blind caretaker, "What?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I had a vision last night. I saw Sabertooth approach Logan. He told him…he told him what he did to you. Logan is looking for you now."

Due to lack of sleep this concept took a while to sink in. When it did however, it was horrible. She had failed. She had done so much, oh so much, to keep it from the X-Men and in a moment, it was ruined.

"It has already happened?"

"I'm afraid so, dear child. I'm sorry. I know that you didn't want him to-"

"Why didn't you tell me before," Rogue cried, "Why didn't you do something to stop it. What the hell are your visions good for if you can't stop anything?"

"I had the vision in my sleep, and didn't know about it until I woke up this morning, after it had already happened. I'm sorry."

Rogue bashed her fist into the table, crying out in anger and frustration. Everything had been ruined.

"Rogue listen-" Irene began, but the girl had already left the kitchen and started to race up the stairs.

"Rogue! Where are you going," she called, but got no answer. She followed up the stairs.

In her room Rogue pulled out her suitcase and started to throw her belongings into it. Irene stepped in the doorway.

"Rogue. Please- please don't leave. Don't run again."

"I have to Irene, don't you see. He will find me here if I don't"

"Why are you running from him now? What does it matter anymore? He knows, everything is out in the open."

"He'll bring me back. I know he will. I can't go back Irene. Don't you understand? God, the way they already looked at me….Now…now it will be a thousand times worse and I can't take it."

"But can't you just explain that to him. Just explain that you can't go back. He is worried about you. At least talk to Wolverine for a little while. Make him see that you are okay."

"But I'm not Okay! And he will see that. He will see that the moment he looks at me. I don't want his pity or sympathy, and more than that I don't want to be his problem. Haven't I been enough trouble for him already? No, I have to leave. I have to get away from all this."

"Rogue, please, at least wait."

"Wait for what? For Logan to find me? Are you listening? I. Can't. Do. That." Rogue said ferociously.

"No, I mean wait for Mystique. She will be back early evening."

"Is that a coincidence?" Rogue asked in a low dangerous voice.

"No, it isn't" Irene conceded, "I called her before you came down and told her. She is coming back for you."

"Wonderful. Blue bitch gets information before I do. This is just fucking wonderful."

"Rogue!" Irene cried, affronted.

"No. Just forget it. I'm gone," she said, snapping her case shut and trying to walk out the door. Irene blocked her.

"Let. Me. Through." Rogue demanded. Irene wouldn't budge.

Instead she asked, "Where are you going Rogue? Do you even have a plan? Do you even have money? What are you going to do? I know you have no idea. You are just wandering off and don't have a chance of survival. Just wait Rogue. Your mother will be here later tonight and she is going to help you leave, she has already said that. I know you two aren't very close but she has resources and she can help you whether you like it or not."

It was a definite 'or not' but Rogue set her suitcase on the bed anyways, sitting beside it. Irene had been right. She had nowhere to go, no plan whatsoever. There was really nothing better to do than wait.

After a tense silence, Irene asked, "Are you hungry because I could make-"

"No." Rogue said in a flat tone of finality.

"Okay then. Let me know if you need anything," she said sadly as she left the room.

'The only thing I need,' Rogue thought, 'is one friggin break in my life. Just one.'

Rogue laid on her bed barely moving for the rest of the day. The first time she left her room was a little after five because she heard the door open and shut. Mystique had returned. It was time to go.

Rogue headed down the stairs dragging her suitcase behind her, crashing down on each step. She didn't care how loud it was. She didn't even bother to go greet anyone in the kitchen where they were currently located. Instead she just put her shoes on that were by the door and sat down by the welcome mat, waiting to leave.

Both women appeared in the foyer about ten minutes later.

"You are ready to leave I take it," Mystique said in her usual sardonic tone. Rogue merely nodded.

Irene looked at Rogue for a moment before saying, "Good bye Rogue, please take care. It will get better eventually. Time is a great healer."

"I…I will, thank you for everything," Rogue said, choking in her words due a parched mouth and lack of speaking all day.

Irene leaned down towards her foster daughter and kissed her on the head. Rogue just looked at her sadly, but Irene didn't see that.

"I will be back at some point Irene, see you soon." Mystique said in a business-like tone as she opened the door. The two made their way to the car.

Thanks to the winter season and daylight savings time, it was dark as they drove. It was a while before Mystique broke the silence.

"Where do you want to go?"

It was a fair question, to which Rogue had no answer. Instead she asked, "Where should I go?"

Mystique looked at her and opened her mouth to say something along the lines of chiding but was interrupted by a scream from Rogue. They had turned a corner and only Rogue saw the large looming tree that lay across the rode. Mystique hit the breaks but they would never stop in time. Instinctively, Rogue pressed her eyes shut, waiting for impact.

The sick sounds of crunching metal filled the women's ears as they were thrust forward, seat belts nearly strangling them. The air bags inflated throwing them back forcefully. Rogue's vision blurred as her head slammed against the back of the seat. She saw mystique out of the corner of her eye, slumped over her air bag, completely unconscious. Rogue wasn't far from that state either. She closed her eyes; it was just too hard to keep them open. Before total blackness came upon her, she smelled it. The air was heavy with smoke, as it surrounded them, billowing through the smashed windshield. Forcing her eyes open, Rogue saw a blob of orange dancing in front of her. She watched it through dazzled eyes for a while before understanding that it was fire. The car was on fire. Cars on fire blew up. She had to get out. She had to get Mystique out too. Rogue forced her arm to move enough to unlock the door. However, she did not have the strength or maneuverability to open it, no matter how hard she tried. She despaired before realizing that even if she could get it open, she wasn't going anywhere. The entire front of the car had smashed into a compact pile of metal, her legs included. It was over. Accepting the worst, she let her head fall back on the air bag. Her vision became even blurrier, and then started to darken. She couldn't even really breathe anymore anyways. Crunch. In her haze, she didn't know if she had imagined the noise. Fresh air rushed in around her. That didn't seem imaginary. More crunching, this time closer, right next to her body. Someone was tearing up the car. Someone was freeing her. Both of her legs came free and her savior pulled her out of the car. Strong arms carried her away from the burning car. She had been saved. It was all she knew as everything went black.

* * *

A/N

I love this chapter. Seriously it is one of my favorites. It was very easy to write. Which is good since i did it at 1:30 in the morning. Kudos to my beta for reading through it, i tend to make a lot of mistakes at that hour.

I apologize for the long winded explination of Rogue's powers but i wanted to make it somewhat clear what was going in her little head. Plus I created the whole metaphor one day and didn't want to waste it.

As you can probably tell, this fic is nearing the end. I never planned on it being long, or frankly very good. It is my first fic and I was just testing the waters as they say. So- the end is near so please stick with me.

Thanks for reading

Peeees Review

Yo-Yo


	13. Grey

Disclaimer- no ownage

Reviewers

Sinister Bra- don't worry, mystique will return (just not this chapter). CD's seemed a little stupid, but i didn't blieve that there were whole people walking around Rogue's mind. That tome is a one way trip to the loony bin.

Saka- Sabertooth is very ugly. My story concept is actually very disgusting. I showed my beta reader a picture and they just went "eeewww"

Nettlez- ah statistics, I avoided that by taking Calculus myself.

Ish- love the long review! Yeah, i'm kinda mean to little Rogue. Don't know why, she is my favorite character. Here is my update, like a bunny but not on crack. I had a little trouble writing this one. The sequal dealing with intimacy sounds good, but Rogue would have to live through this story first.

JD- hope you got more sleep, lol.

Det- What fight?

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'Ow' was Rogue's first waking thought. Her whole body was completely sore. It was like a car had hit her. No, she had been hit by a tree. The images of the crash flooded back into her brain. She groaned at the memory, forcing her eyes open. All that met them was white. No, that was wrong. It was grey, a rather unpleasant shade of it. Because grey was the only thing she could see from her current position, Rogue convinced herself to sit up. It took a hell of a lot of convincing. Her vision spun in front of her as she finally made it to an upright position.

Every part of her body felt heavy and stiff. She had probably been unconscious a long time. Goosebumps rose on her flesh as a chill wrapped around her. She realized that not only was she in a chilly room, but her clothes were badly torn, large amounts of skin exposed. It was very difficult to keep her head up. Rogue noticed that her neck was oddly heavy. She raised her fingers up to touch cold metal.

"What?" she asked out loud, voice hoarse. Frantically she felt around her neck to find that she was wearing a metal collar. It was thick and heavy and horribly familiar to her.

The door to the room opened and Sabertooth stood in the doorway.

"You finally decided to join us, girly? Good. I have lots of fun planned for us." He walked towards her, smiling sadistically.

"Get the fuck away from me," she hissed, putting up her arms defensively. He looked at her humorously for a second before slamming her back down on the cot-like bed she had been put on.

"Go ahead my little Rogue, keep fighting, I love when you do that," he said, leaning down and giving her a kiss. As he pulled away, Rogue was thankful she hadn't eaten in a while as she dry heaved onto the spot next to her. He had tasted like blood.

"Little Bitch," he cursed and slapped her. Hard. Rogue felt blood trickle down in small drops from where his claws had dug into her face. "You will learn how to behave, girly. I promise you that." With that, he left her alone in the room with only her thoughts to occupy her.

Was Mystique dead? In theory she had to be, with the car near explosion when she was pulled away. But then again, her darling mother had a knack for getting out of bad situations. Did she have that same luck this time? Maybe Sabertooth had grabbed her too- another prize for his collection. Was she being held captive here too?

Where was here? Rogue took a look around. Everything was solid gray, concrete grey. The room she was in was rather small; it highly resumed a jail cell, without the bars. No furniture or decorations where there, except for the cot she sat on. A single door marked the entrance and exit of the room. It was completely solid metal, not even a window. It could have been brass or steel, Rogue didn't really know. It seemed heavy if the loud clang it made while Sabertooth shut it was any measure. There was no chance for escape.

Gingerly, she laid back down wincing as sharp pains shot through her body. She closed her eyes and fell into a mercifully dreamless sleep. It was probably the only break she was going to catch any time soon.

Hours, minutes, or days later, Rogue had no idea how long, she was woken up by unkind shaking.

"Wakey Wakey, little girl." Sabertooth taunted, "I'm bored and you are going to amuse me." His hand traveled up between her legs to let her know exactly how she would be of entertainment. Rogue refused to go down with out a fight. With a violent cry she cracked her leg into his face. He gave a howl of pain, and angrily picked her up and through her into a wall. Rogue tried to stand and fight again, but her body wouldn't comply, collapsing under her at every attempt. Sabertooth walked over to her and positioned himself on top of her.

"You gonna fight anymore girly?" Rogue shook her head. There was no point in fighting she realized. She would never win and things wouldn't be better with broken limbs.

"Good girl." Sabertooth leaned down and kiss her again, this time pulling down her panties at the same time.

Evidently Sabertooth hadn't believed her when she said she would not fight back. When she awoke next, chains bound her. Not having anything to connect to, they were weighed down by heavy pieces of metal. She could move around the room if she put effort into it, but too far for too long. Rogue had no reason to put effort into it.

Rogue still had no idea how long she had been in there. Without a window, it was impossible to tell whether it was night or day. Her air supply, as she discovered later, was a single tiny vent in the corner of her ceiling. Sabertooth didn't offer in help in time telling. His visits were entirely random. Sometimes it seemed like an hour before he returned, but others it could have been a day. Every time he came, he had her. It actually stopped hurting after a while. Her meals were as random as Sabertooth's visits, though far more scarce. Simple stuff like bread, crackers and cereal were served with water. They always came only while she slept. Sabertooth never seemed to check if she was asleep by coming in. There was probably a camera somewhere. Rogue didn't care. How much more violated could she get?

At first Rogue held out hope that the professor and the x-men would some how find her. That any minute they would break down that door and bring her back to warmth and safety. But they never came. Rogue called for the professor. She called and called. She screamed for Logan, Kitty, Kurt, anyone. But they never came.

All the while Rogue had no idea why he held her there. He could abuse anyone to be his little pet but he chose her. He surely would want someone prettier, better looking than her. From what she could tell no one knew she was here. How was this revenge on Logan if he didn't know what was going on?

All she heard second after second was silence. If mystique was captured, she was either far away or sure as hell quieter than Rogue. Rogue had taken to thinking out loud in fear of losing her voice completely not to mention her sanity (that was quickly waning). She also finally started forcing herself to move around her cell, dragging the weights and chains behind her as exercise. If she didn't, she could lose the ability to move as well.

When she neared slumber on the cot, she realized how stupid her efforts were. Who cares if she died fit and loud rather than mute and paralyzed? She died either way. Yet every time she woke up, she talked and walked. It was the only action she could take in her life. The only control she had over her situation.

* * *

A/N

Ummmm...don't hurt me. Please. I'm sorry. I know I have got a lot of angry people probably on hand. It had to be done.

Rogue is my favorite character.

I swear.

I'm sorry

Next chapter up soon.


	14. Return

Reviewers:

Kizsy- Glad to be unique

Det- you are dancing? This is depressing mon!

Jikei- Power to the words!

Saka- they keep coming

Ish- yes, completely right about the tree. Very good! It would be nice for Sabertooth to die horribly, but he seems rather resilient doesn't he? Well, defiantly bunny on crack for this update…

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Chapter 14- Return

"Fifty-three" she said aloud, "Fifty three spots on the ceiling." Rogue perked up as she heard the familiar loud clank of the door. Sabertooth stood in the doorway staring down at her. Rogue just faced the ceiling again. Why had she even bothered to look? It was Sabertooth. It was always Sabertooth.

He entered at an oddly quick pace, rushing over to her. This caught her attention. "Come on Rogue, let's go. I'm getting you out of here." Before her eyes, Sabertooth shrunk to blue woman with brilliant red hair and glowing yellow eyes. Rogue didn't dare believe. 'This is it,' she thought, 'I have finally lost my mind. This is all a delusion."

"Why are you just sitting there Rogue, let's go." Mystique demanded, "Sabertooth could be back at any minute."

"You aren't real," Rogue said in a dreamy tone staring with a half smile, "All in my head."

Mystique reached over and gently but firmly smacked her daughter across her face.

"Ow," she cried out, "that hurt."

"Good. I'm real, now can we go," she asked in a low tone. Eyes opened wide, Rogue nodded. She was getting out.

"Okay now, stand still," Mystique ordered bringing out pistol and aiming at the chains. Her aim was true like usual. Rogue rubbed her wrists where the chains had just fallen from. Mystique impatiently grabbed her arm and dragged her off.

The next second they were running down a long narrow hallway that was just as grey and cold as her cell. In a breathless voice mystique explained briefly, "Irene had a vision. You will have to wait for the collar. I don't have the key. We will find another way to break it off later.

"Hold on." Mystique requested as the approached a large door blocking their path. A digital number pad was in the wall beside it.

"Where are we?" Rogue asked.

"Old army base, now silence. I have to concentrate," Mystique snapped punching in some numbers and shape shifting into Sabertooth, most likely for an eye match test.

Rogue leaned on a doorway beside them. While waiting for her mother to open the door, she took to looking around. Even when not running, there was very little to look at. It was just a hallway with random doors. A sudden noise caught her attention. A shadow loomed in a doorway on the other side of the hall, close to hers. Before it registered in her mind or she could get warning it pounced. There was a sickening crack as Sabertooth crashed Mystique into the door. A gun fell from her and clattered to the floor away from the three.

"No!" Rogue screamed, attacking him. Again all she got was thrown into a wall. This time it was much worse than before. He took the opportunity to kick the gun down the hallway. Rogue crumpled to the ground, unable to get up again. This distracted Sabertooth long enough to allow Mystique to recover. Stars swam in front of her eyes, but Rogue watched the best she could as her mother dodged a blow, and attacked. It was a straight kick to the chest, but even Mystique had very little effect on the large mutant. He aimed a fist at her and she ducked again but he shot his leg out and bringing her to the ground. Rogue winced. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw the gun. It was defiantly a ways down the hallway, but if her mother stayed fighting long enough, Rogue could get it without Sabertooth noticing. Quick healing or not, a bullet would harm Sabertooth. Pooling her strength, Rogue began to crawl down the hallway. She would have liked to walk, but the immense swelling her foot and ankle told her she was too badly injured.

The sounds of the fight echoed loudly down the hard, cold hall as Rogue made her way down. It hurt to move her chest Obviously a rib or two had been broken. She kept crawling though, ignoring the pain. This was going to end now.

A sudden and very violent crack halted her movements. Fighting had suddenly ceased. Fearing the worst Rogue looked back. Her mother was slumped on the floor, a large, long stain running down the door she was against. Mystique had been knocked out, Rogue had to get the gun and get it now.

Too bad Sabertooth saw her. Before she could even lay a finger on it, it was swooped up in front her.

"Going somewhere x-girl?" He sneered. He picked her up to her feet and ordered her to walk. She collapsed again telling him that she couldn't. "Fine. I'll drag you then," he replied in an annoyed voice.

By one arm, she was dragged back to the cell. Without ceremony, she was dropped on the floor. Without a second glance, she was locked in. It hurt too much to move, so Rogue didn't. She laid there and just sobbed. Rogue found out that crying hurt too.

Sabertooth didn't return to her for a while. In fact the swelling of her foot had eased a bit before she came. This was probably the result of her resting it on the ice-like concrete floor.

"You better make it good tonight girly, since our time is almost through."

Rogue didn't know if she was more shocked by the words or the fact that he had spoken at all. Sabertooth usually just stuck to silence when he spent time with her. Quicker, more efficient, and altogether more animalistic. Today however, tonight in fact, he spoke.

"Almost through? What is happening to me?"

"Well my pet, tomorrow you are going to die." Normally a phrase like that would be shocking and horrifying. Rogue was only surprised that it took so long.

"So that is why you took me? To kill me?"

"For the most part, I got side benefits too." He said with a smile.

"Why wait so long? Surly you can find….side benefits….elsewhere?" Rogue asked. It was odd discussing her own murder but she was unbearably curious.

"I had to find the right time to kill you. Tomorrow fits very well."

"Why?" Sabertooth stared at her as if deciding whether or not to answer. In the end, he decided to humor her.

"Tomorrow is a big party in New York. Many people, many cameras. That is where I am going to kill you. On live T.V. so everyone can see me smash your poor little body."

"So Wolverine can see you smash my body."

"Smarter than you look aren't you my little pet? Yep, Wolverine will get to see your dying breath. Won't that be fun?" Sabertooth said, sounding much too happy.

"Tons," Rogue said in a flat emotionless voice.

When it came to dying, Rogue still had yet to decide if she even cared.

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A/N

Okay, another chapter in this story. Again with the happy right?

Short chapter, but quick update.

It would have been quicker but I spent the day at Waldenbooks with a friend of my reading comics.

We made fun of the dorks who were like "Emma is so hot, I wish she were real."

Then we realized that we were sitting on the floor in the middle of the isle fighting over DC vs. Marvel. I was being particulary idiotic and doing dramatic impressions of Rogue ( offering deep sighs and sobbing that I couldn't touch my true love.) I got a few odd looks.

New chappie soon

Thanks for reading

Peas Review

Lima Bean


	15. Live TV

Disclaimer- No owny

Quick update for you all

* * *

Chapter 15- Live T.V.

"Fifty-Four" she said out loud, "I guess I missed one yesterday." Rogue couldn't say for sure that she had been counting yesterday, but she assumed after she had slept that it was morning.

It was probably late morning actually. She stayed up quite late thinking. How odd it was to be able to sympathize with prisoners on death row. How odd it was to know that within a certain amount of hours, you were going to die. How odd it was to be so calm.

Maybe that wasn't so odd. Rogue had thought about it a long time. Dying didn't seem so bad. People always associate death with pain, misery and darkness. However, those attributes had described Rogue's life. Death would be a relief. Besides after the last breath, the only one feeling the pain was the people left behind. Rogue felt bad about hurting any body that might care about her. But it was for the best. Rogue was ready to end it all. Heaven, Hell, or just plain nothingness- Rogue was ready to move on.

She slept peacefully after realizing that. More peacefully than she had in a long time. Sabertooth came in then.

"Last one girly, this is the end for you," he sneered. Rogue smiled. It was genuine. She made sure to hide it though. Sabertooth only talked about killing her because he thought it made her miserable. It was the one joy left in her life. She wasn't about to give it up.

It was a relatively long time before Sabertooth returned. Time always stretches before the arrival of something you look forward to. To her surprise he took off her chains. She squinted her eyes in confusion before he handed her some clothes. They weren't much- just a short skirt and tight top- but it was more than she had worn in a while.

"Gotta make you look pretty for you little debut don't I?" He said looking excited. He handed her a washcloth and demanded she clean up her face. He also forced her to brush her hair. Rogue finally realized why he was going through so much trouble. He had always called her his pet. Now he was going to prove that she was. Pretty her up like a little show dog then kill her for evidence of his complete control. It was all a lovely little show for Wolverine and the x-men. Sabertooth wins, they lose.

After she had managed that, the chains went back on. Then there was a pill. As the room spun, Rogue realized that it had been a tranquilizer. Sabertooth picking her up was the last memory she had. When she awoke it was windy and cold. Very very cold. She was outside somewhere but all Rogue could see were glowing dots. Her vision took its own sweet time in clearing up.

The dots were small window lights from city buildings. Rogue lived in a small country town for a long time, but still knew that the best wind in the city was found on the top of buildings. There were fewer obstructions of course. That is where Sabertooth and Rogue were now. When he realized she was awake he put her down to walk. The weights on her chains were gone. Instead Sabertooth held the other ends, walking his little show dog.

It was clear to Rogue that Sabertooth was leading her to the edge. Between where there were now and the end of the building were large moving spotlights. It was a common decoration for big premiers and events and such. Rogue made her final steps, not as a murderer condemned to death, but as a slave heading towards freedom. There were many things in the world much worse than death.

Tons of people were all that Rogue saw. Limousines and other expensive vehicles littered the streets. Bright lights were everywhere. It was beautiful, flat out beautiful. A City's nightlife at it's best.

"Aren't you going to kill me now?" Rogue asked in a calm voice.

"Not yet, my pet, the reporters haven't seen us yet. We have to wait for that."

"Oh" she said casually.

Had Sabertooth thought this through? The news vans were barely visible at this height. They were encased in darkness up here, how would they ever see them. Her answer came in the form of a loud sound that signified the approach of a helicopter. 'Of course,' Rogue realized, 'channel whatever news would want the aerial shot and traffic report. How perfect.' She watched the aircraft as it approached them, small light waving back and forth wildly. It landed on them.

"Showtime." Sabertooth said, completely ecstatic. He pulled her right on the small ledge that bordered the edge. He held her changes, showing her off for all to see. She was the prize Pomeranian. She was the amazing circus act. She was the car wreck that everyone was going to watch for sick pleasure and amazement.

Suddenly a second spot light was on them. Bathed in brilliant light the only thing she could see was the ground where there was enough light to counter it. It was so far down. It would hurt so much when she hit. When she did…her life would be over. Completely over- no going back.

Rogue panicked. Her heart raced and breathing increased. She had completely fooled herself. No! Rogue realized that she wanted to live. Sabertooth was the one who should die. 'Why the hell am I letting him win," she said, yelling at herself.

Anger started to pulsate through her body. There was no way in hell that all these people would watch her just die just because her captor said jump. Let them watch her fight. There was a 99 percent chance she wouldn't be taking the stairs back down tonight, but it would because she died trying to take down her captor. Not because she stepped off her cliff like a fucking trained animal.

Rogue screamed in fury, performing a roundhouse kick on her captor. Sabertooth had luckily not expected it so it actually knocked him back. Rogue fell with him, forward rather than back off the ledge. He growled and yanked the chains to him. She used his momentum to go around him and turn him around with her. Tired of playing games he just reached for her and picked her up.

"End of the road girly. Time to say goodbye," he said nastily, carrying her back over. Closing her eyes and hoping with all the will she had, she kicked backward. Sabertooth cried out, and bent over, holding himself. Rogue pushed herself forward as hard as she could. Already at an awkward stance the movement yanked him forward. Instinctively, Sabertooth walked forward rapidly to regain balance. He took a step or two too many and kissed air.

It would have been a perfect victory if he had not been holding onto the chains still. It was a perfect case of whiplash as she was yanked into the cold night air. If she didn't' know any better, Rogue could have sworn that this was flying. But she did know better. Rogue knew that the she was only falling and there would be no graceful landings.

The end came quickly.

The end came with no pain.

Just empty darkness.

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A/N

I could just end it here.

In theory.

For once, I won't be that cruel

One more chapter left.

Stick with me.

Review

Sheep


	16. Sacrifice

Disclaimer: yeah...I still don't own it

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Chapter 16- Sacrifice

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…"

Irene stood closest to the gravestone on the left side. Tears appeared on her face from underneath her glasses. Next to her stood Ororo Monroe, eyes closed, cool wind blowing through her hair. Rain threatened, but didn't fall. Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde were next, clutching each other for support and comfort. Both faces included continuously running tears. Jean Grey and Scott Summers were not weeping. However they were far from unaffected. They stood hand in hand, heads bowed in sadness, occasionally glancing at each other as if they needed a reminder that they weren't alone. The opposite side of the coffin did not hold the same outward emotion. Opposite Jean and Scott were Wanda Maximoff and Lance Alvers. They stood staring at the black case, deep frowns apparent. Then it was Professor Xavier. His head was on his hands and eyebrows deeply curved. Following that was Logan. He stood completely emotionless. Arms folded in front of him, it was clear that crying was the farthest thing from his mind. In fact most of his attention tended to be directed at the girl next to him. Like storm, her platinum hair blew in the breeze. The rest of her auburn hair had managed to be put back in a loose ponytail.

She read the gravestone, "Raven Darkholme, Best Friend, Loving Mother." Rogue didn't look any closer to crying than Logan. Oddly enough the 'loving mother' bit had been her idea. Mystique's body had been ready for the funeral while Rogue was still unconscious, but Kurt had personally made sure that nothing happened until his dear 'sister' woke up. Rogue had essentially killed his birth mother. If acting like they had bonded somewhat eased even a little of that pain, she was willing to lie. Irene of course was responsible for 'best friend.' Whatever made her happy.

A soft thump signified the casket hitting the dirt below. The somber group headed back down the aging sidewalk. Rogue walked beside Irene. The guilt she had from Kurt couldn't hold a candle to what she felt on behalf of Irene. Irene had insisted that it wasn't her fault. Mystique had lied to Irene actually. When she had her vision, Irene asked Raven to promise to go to the X-men for help and Mystique had agreed. Raven had known where Rogue was because of her work with Magneto in the past. The old base had been used a while back. Irene had described the inside and Mystique matched it up instantly but never went to the X-men. "Too much pride," Irene had explained. It seemed that Mystique had taken Sabertooth's offences quite personally. She had essentially screwed herself other. "Her pride lead her to a fatal mistake as I feared it would someday," is how Irene had put it. The blind woman always had the gift for diplomacy that Rogue lacked.

Rogue stumbled on a weed that peaked through a crack on the sidewalk. She regained balance quickly however with aid from her cane. Rogue would rather not have had to use it but Dr. McCoy had insisted. Actually he had insisted that she stay in a wheelchair. That didn't go down well. The walking aide was the compromise ending a heated debate. Stubborn as she was, Rogue realized that she probably should have taken the chair. She was quickly becoming winded by the walking. Even Wolverine's powers couldn't heal her completely that quickly, especially considering the size of the small dose she took. Sensing her weakness, Wolverine quickly held back to get next to her. He quickly wrapped an arm around her, putting hers around his neck, forcing some of her weight onto him. They made a slow pace, but it was better than Rogue dropping in the middle of the path.

Logan wasn't crazy about letting Rogue out of his sight now. Rogue couldn't blame him completely. Her fall wasn't pretty. Kitty, Jean, Scott, and Kurt thought it was completely morbid and unhealthy for her to want to watch the videos of her little show. For Rogue it was different. The memories weren't great, but she deserved to see the first hand account of how she cheated death. The others just didn't understand. The cameras focused on her couldn't get a close shot of her on top of the building as she fought with Sabertooth and eventually went over the side. They did get great shots of the aftermath though. Because of the chains and the way they fell, Rogue ended up landing on Sabertooth. Apparently he ended up breaking her fall, though not by much. Barely two minutes later the black jet appeared overhead. Wolverine quickly jumped from it, completely ignoring the large fall to the ground. He raced over to Rogue and put his hand to her face. Nothing happened. Jean was the one who saw the collar. She and Storm were the second ones out due to their flying ability. Wolverine ripped it off as gently as he could and touched Rogue again. Again nothing happened. Jean, who had been taking her pulse, shook her head. By now the others had gathered around.

The News camera was unable to capture the sound of the situation, but it was simple enough to grasp. Jean started CPR until Storm pushed her aside to jump-start Rogue's heart with her powers. It wasn't until the third shock that Logan suddenly looked slightly pained. He never passed out. Hank had explained to her that due to her immense injuries, she only pulled a small amount of Logan's powers. However it was enough to begin her slow healing. She was unconscious for a week.

That was a week added to the three that she had spent in Sabertooth's lair. Plus however long she had spent at her old home. It was snowing when Rogue awoke.

Sabertooth had survived, as miraculously as Rogue. When Wolverine found this out, it took all of Jean's powers to not let him completely rip him to shreds. The professor explained that combating violence with more violence was a vicious cycle. Eventually the Professor arranged for Sabertooth's body to be given to a remote lab for experimentation. Rogue almost smiled at that one. Torture could be considered all right if served science. Almost smiled. She still would have rather watched Wolverine tear him into little bits.

Two days after she woke up, Irene approached her asking what she wanted on the grave marker for her departed mother.

Four days after she woke up, they had the funeral. Now Rogue walked with Wolverine's support back to the black X-van waiting for them. Honestly being this close to Wolverine was very nerve racking little flashes of memories taunting her. However it was the only way to make it to the car.

Sometimes sacrifices just have to be made.

A/N

And here is the mighty conclusion.

I managed to keep Rogue living, go me.

I'll admit that there are a lot of loose ends. I left myself quite open for a sequel. I am actually thinking of doing one. That all depends if I get enough reviews/requests to do one.

If I do a sequel it would be along the lines of Rogue having to deal with a few new students and adjusting back to a normal life. (There could be romance…)

Please Review

Orange Goat


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